Married men, cheating housewives, government officials and prostitutes revealing themselves in a mass ritual of adultery and sex. This is what happens on Gunung Kemukus in Indonesia, otherwise known as Sex Mountain.
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“I come here to seek good fortune,” regular visitor Mardiyah told me as I follow her journey on tonight’s Dateline at 9.30pm on SBS ONE.
She is one of thousands of pilgrims who journey to a mysterious hilltop in Java to perform this ancient ritual. Most of those who take part in the ritual consider themselves devout Muslims.'
There are several versions of the mythic tale that date back to the 16th century. Legend has it a young Indonesian Prince Pangeran Samodro had an affair with his stepmother.
They ran away and hid on Gunung Kemukus. One day, while mid-coitus, they were caught, killed and buried atop the mountain. It's now an Islamic shrine where this sex ritual takes place.
The story goes: pilgrims must copulate on the mountain every 35 days for seven consecutive times and blessings and wealth should come their way.
But for the magic to work and the money to flow, it's believed their sex partner for the ritual should not be their spouse.
I meet Gepeng, who like many others has traveled hundreds of kilometers from across the archipelago to get to sex mountain.
“You go there to look for a different partner, not the one you have at home. Historically that's how it works," he said.
Another man traveling with him explained: “I don't tell my wife. There’s no way my wife will find out.”
Pilgrims first pray and make offerings at the grave. They then must wash themselves at sacred springs nearby and once that's been completed, they have sex.
This ritual isn't seen anywhere else in Indonesia or the rest of the Muslim world. It’s a very Javanese blend of religious ideals with Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist influences.