Layout

Jeruk Purut covers a total area of 9.12 ha (0.0912 km²; 0.0352125168636392 sq mi). It is located in South Jakarta

South Jakarta

South Jakarta is a city within Jakarta Special District, Indonesia. It had a population of 2,057,080 at the 2010 Census, and is the third most populous among the five cities of Jakarta, after East Jakarta and West Jakarta...

.

Along with Kalibata Heroes Cemetery

Kalibata Heroes Cemetery

Kalibata Heroes Cemetery , in Kalibata, South Jakarta is a military cemetery in Indonesia. More than 7000 people who are military casualties and veterans from Indonesian War of Independence were buried...

 and Karet Bivak and Menteng Pulo public cemeteries, Jeruk Purut is one of the better maintained cemeteries in Jakarta.

History

The cemetery was expanded with wakaf

Waqf

A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...

land (land donated for religious purposes) in the mid-2000s, which resulted in the eviction of several squatters. In 2007, burials averaged 300 per month. , Jeruk Purut is one of few cemeteries in Jakarta capable of expansion.

Legends

According to local belief, Jeruk Purut is haunted by the ghost of a decapitated pastor. The ghost is said to carry its head around with it, and be followed by a large black dog. He is reportedly looking for his grave, which is said to not be in Jeruk Purut but Tanah Kusir Cemetery.

According to The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Post

The Jakarta Post is a daily English language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara, and the head office is in the nation's capital, Jakarta....

, the belief has been around for decades. The Jakarta Globe notes that many visit the cemetery at night to look for it; it is said to only appear on Friday nights when those looking for it are in groups with an odd number of people. The story was used as the inspiration for the 2006 film Hantu Jeruk Purut

Hantu Jeruk Purut

Hantu Jeruk Purut is a 2006 Indonesian horror film directed by Koya Pagayo and starring Angie, Sheila Marcia Joseph, and Samuel Z Heckenbucker...

(The Ghost of Jeruk Purut), which led to a burst in popularity for the cemetery.

More ghosts are reported to abide in the cemetery. They include a child and large hairy ghoul. In 2011, Prambors FM

Prambors FM

Prambors FM is a commercial radio network based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Launched on March 18, 1971 in Jakarta, the purpose of station was to play pop music with targeted is teenagers. In 1970s-1990s, Prambors was one of the teenagers icon in Jakarta.-History:...

 chose Jeruk Purut Cemetery as the scariest place in Jakarta, based on the legend of the headless pastor. It was selected over Lubang Buaya

Lubang Buaya

Lubang Buaya is the site of the murder of seven army officers during the 1 October coup attempt of the 30 September Movement...

, the site where the corpses of several generals were dumped after an unsuccessful coup, as well as a bridge in Casablanca, a train crossing in Bintaro, and a house in Pondok Indah

Pondok Indah

Pondok Indah is an upscale residential area in South Jakarta, Indonesia. This is a much sought-after suburb by expatriates due to the proximity to the Jakarta International School. Reportedly the median salary for expatriate residents is US$357,200 annually, plus benefits; however, this is...

.

Notable interments

• Adjie Massaid
  Adjie Massaid
  Raden Pandji Chandra Pratomo Samiadji Massaid , also known as Adjie Massaid, was an Indonesian actor, model, and politician...
  
  , actor and model cum politician
• Chrisye
  Chrisye
  Chrismansyah Rahadi , better known by his stage name Chrisye , was an Indonesian progressive-pop singer and song writer of mixed Chinese-Indonesian descent. He was born in Jakarta on 16 September 1949, and died there on 30 March 2007 following a long battle with lung cancer. He recorded 21 solo...
  
  , singer and songwriter
• Joesoef Isak
  Joesoef Isak
  Joesoef Isak was an Indonesian publisher, translator, and left-wing intellectual. He was an advocate of free speech during President Suharto's authoritarian New Order administration, and was imprisoned from 1967 to 1977 without trial. In 1980, he helped found and direct the publishing house Hasta...
  
  , publisher and politician
• Mochtar Lubis
  Mochtar Lubis
  Mochtar Lubis was an Indonesian Batak journalist and novelist who co-founded Indonesia Raya. His novel Senja di Jakarta was the first Indonesian novel to be translated into English. He was a critic of Sukarno and was imprisoned by him...
  
  , writer and journalist
• Omar Dhani
  Omar Dhani
  Air Marshal Omar Dani, , was commander of the Indonesian Air Force from 1962 until 1965. He was a leading leftist figure in Indonesia during the Sukarno era....
  
  , former chief of Indonesia's air force