I heard about a mystic fire in the jungle not far from my home in Tuban. The name of the fire is “Kayangan Api”. What means something like an eternal flame. The place deep in the Javanese jungle is around 25 km from Bojonegoro, a town next to Tuban. A sacred place with a mystical fire in East Java’s jungle sounds exciting.
The Indonesian island Java is a volcanic and seismic active island. Moreover, Java has huge natural resources in oil and gas. Where gas is seeping to the surface and venting to the atmosphere eternal flames may occur. The flames are a natural phenomenon and can be burning for centuries. Such eternal flames are quite common all over the world. Many eternal flames are also sacred places. Like the mystic fire near the city of Bojonegoro.
Kayangan Api is a mystic fire and eternal flame in the Javanese jungle. Therefore, people believe if they make a wish on the eternal flame, that wish becomes true.
The fire pit is a circle of around four meters in diameter. In the centre of the pit, stones are stacked up in a pile. There, the flames coming out between the stones and burning above. Small shrines surround the fireplace. On Friday evening people from near villages gather here to hold ceremonies, for instance. Obviously, the mystic fire is a visitor hotspot.
Like everywhere in Java, this place also has a legend. The legend says that a sword made in the flame gets magical power. I arrived late in the afternoon because I’d like to see the flame in the darkness. However, the flames burn with a slightly orange or red to purple colour. The unique atmosphere at Kayangan Api with the flickering flame, the little shrines, and the jungle around made this place quite mystic. Especially in the darkness.