Nusa Kambangan is an island located in Indonesia, separated by a narrow strait from the south coast of Java. The closest port is Cilacap in Central Java province. It is known as the place where the fabled wijayakusuma, which translates as the 'flower of victory' in the highest literary register of the Javanese language, grows. The wijayakusuma can be used to bring a person back from the dead, and the princes of the Sultanate of Mataram and later the Surakarta Sunanate sent to the island for the blooms in order to become kings. Thus the island is also known as pulau bunga-bungaan, the 'island of many flowers'. There is a forest reserve on the island. One of the main cultural events is Sedekah Laut (sea sacrifice), which is held by the Surakarta Sunanate every Satu Suro (new year) in the Javanese calendar. Since the Dutch colonial period, there have been a number of supermax prisons on the island, some of which are still operational and run by the Ministry of Immigration and Correction.
