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.: What is Pontianak :.
In Malaysia, the creature "Pontianak" is believed to exist in real by certain individuals and it is considered a legend by some. The origination of the word "Pontianak" is unknown. In Malay "anak" means child but the word "ponti" is unknown.
It is in general believed that "Pontianak" is the soul of a lady died of child birth. "Pontianak" is basically a vampire-like female who appears at night. Sometimes she is accompanied by a baby. Normally she is seen at the road side or under a tree. She has long hair. Sometimes she appears young and beautiful to attract male victims. After the victim falls in her trap, she will turn ugly and old with sharp teeth. Attacks would be based on claws, and defense probably on leaping or footwork. She is believed to feed on intestines and blood. "Pontianak" is believed to be attracted by child birth when there is a plenty of blood flowing out from human body. In the olden days, measures are taken by the people to prevent the vampire-like creatures from coming during child birth. She is believed to be scared of thorns.
.: The Legend :.
It is said that a woman who dies while she is with child will rise again as a "Pontianak", a fearsome nocturnal undead being who will bring violent death on anyone she meets. Such a being resides inside the trunk of ancient trees, but will revert to her old human nature if an iron nail is driven into her neck. The nail remains in the woman's neck until she dies and is buried with it ... should the nail ever be removed, she will once again become a Pontianak and embark on a killing spree. Due to the frightening fighting prowess of one of these creatures, few are willing to attempt to tame one. For this reason, it is considered unlucky to strike a woman, especially a married woman.
.: Langsuir vs Pontianak in Malay folklore :.
The Malaysians have a rich mythology involving numerous "demon-vampire" types of all diverse sorts. One of the more prominent Malay vampire-like creatures is known as the Bajang. The Bajang is generally assumed to be male and takes the form of a huge cat which mews at night. The female of this species is known as the Langsuir, or Langsuyar. There are some variations to the Langsuir tale.
In one version, the Langsuir was a woman of exquisite beauty and charm who, upon hearing the news of her child's stillbirth, died of shock and became a demon. Women in Malaysia seem to have this particularly horrible tendency to suddenly die of shock and become demon-vampires. Anyway, upon hearing the news, the woman claps her hands and flies off to a tree where she perches. The stillborn child becomes the Pontianak. The Langsuir wears a beautiful robe of green and possesses long, tapering nails and flowing black hair- which conceals a "feeding hole" in the back of her neck, which she uses to suck the blood of young children.
In this version, the Langsuir can be stopped or, more precisely, 'domesticated.' To do this, you must catch her, trim her nails and her hair, and then stuff the hair into the hole in the back of her neck. Goodness, it'd be hard enough to catch a normal women and do that, much less one that possesses supernatural powers.
In another telling of the tale, the Langsuir is a woman who has died during childbirth before the 'forty days of uncleanness have expired'. In this variation, the Langsuir is a demon-witch that shrieks and flies about by waving her arms and opening and closing her hands. To prevent this from happening, immediately after the woman has died, glass beads are placed into the corpse's mouth, hen's eggs placed under each armpit, and needles stuck into the palms. This prevents the Langsuir's ability to shriek and move her arms and hands.
The tendency for one to become a Bajang or Langsuir seems to be somewhat hereditary, as the familiar of each is handed down, heirloom style, from one family member to the next- very similar to the supposed witch-possessions of European lore.
Still another version of the story has the Langsuir depicted as a great owl with giant claws that perches itself in trees or upon rooftops, hooting it's melancholy tune (similiar to a Banshee).
.: Pontianak or Langsuir :.
Now, the Pontianak, or Madi-anak, also has a few variations. As stated before, the popular reference to the Pontianak is as the stillborn child of the Langsuir, and it takes the form of an owl; just as the mother does in the last variation. Other versions have the stillborn corpse shrieking a maddening cry and flapping its arms and flying about. To prevent this, the same procedure with the beads, eggs, and needles must be performed.
Through some misinterpretation, the Pontianak has also taken on the role of the Langsuir that is in the form of a beautiful woman who died in childbirth. The people of Java refer to the Pontianak as the spirit of a dead virgin, who feeds upon unsuspecting suitors with the hole in the back of her neck; unless they are quick and can loose a single strand of her magnificent hair.
In Java and the rest of Indonesia the names of the Languisar and the Pontianak are reversed such that the Pontianak is the mother and the Langsuir is the baby. Here they also are night flying vampires. But on Java the Pontianak also wails at night like a banshee for the loss of her child.
.: The origin of Pontianak :.
Otherwise known as 'Hantu Kuntilanak among the Indonesians', there are many stories of the Malay vampire, commonly known to the locals in Malaysia as Pontianak. They have long hair and are usually thought of as females. They kill their victims and then suck their blood. There are, however, different opinions on the origins of this Pontianak.
The most common belief is that the Pontianak is usually the ghost of a woman who died during childbirth, and she returns as a vengeful spirit who hates to see other women have what she couldn't. So these spirits would seduce men by appearing to them as a beautiful woman, and once they've lured the unsuspecting males, will proceed to suck the life out of them. They are also known to turn up at a childbirth and 'steal' the new-born baby away. They do steal young women's life too as it is believed that the latter's blood will keep them going.
An Indonesian informant said that Hantu Kuntilanak are actually victims of road accidents who had lost a lot of blood in those accidents. Therefore, they transform themselves into bloodsucking ghosts.
Perhaps the only reason they are called vampire is because they suck blood. Otherwise, Pontianaks do not have characteristic of the Western version of vampire. They have more characteristics possessed by ghosts but are much more violent. Hence, in my opinion, the term 'vampire' may not be such a suitable term to call them but 'Pontianak' should be a more appropriate term.
The Pontianak is the stillborn child of a Langsuir. Langsuir also sucks the blood of living infants and appears in the form of a night owl with long claws. The ways to prevent a stillborn child, whose mother also died at his stillbirth, from becoming a Pontianak match the ways his mother is prevented from becoming a Langsuir.
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