Pontianak, Indonesia’s City on the Equator lies on the banks of the Kapuas, the country’s longest and largest river, and one of the longest rivers in the world. The Kapuas River has its source at Gunung Lawit, deep in the Mueller mountain range in Central Borneo where it rushes down, meandering 1,143 kilometers west, passing 9 of West Kalimantan’s 14 districts, until it finally reaches the South China Sea, forming a wide delta upon which Pontianak is built.
It is no wonder, therefore, that the Kapuas River serves as the livelihood of the region, a major waterway to reach interior towns and its major water supply. Boats with a 3 meter draft can navigate upriver to the town of Sintang, some 465 km. inland from the mouth Kapuas. This is the gateway to the interior, home of the Dayaks. While boats with 2 meter draft can reach Putussibau, 902 km from Pontianak.
Long known as a busy trading port facing the South China Sea, Pontianak is a cosmopolitan city where various races and ethnic groups live peacefully side by side. Malays and Dayaks are the major ethnic groups here with Bugis, Bataks, Minangkabaus, Javanese, Chinese and Arabs making up the city’s population. Until today, Bugis Phinisi schooners can be seen tied at Pontianak’s docks, their crew busy loading and unloading goods.
In the mid 1700’s a gold rush attracted Chinese miners, who came and settled around the gold fields of Mandor, Montrado, and Singkawang, north of Pontianak. At the time, the West Borneo (now Kalimantan) gold fields were rich, producing 18 to 21 carat gold. Soon, however, yields diminished. Nonetheless, until today, gold panning is still rampant, covering an area of more than 6,600 hectares. As in those early days the Chinese Emperor forbade women from leaving the country, the Chinese men in West Borneo married the local Dayak girls, thus creating inter-marriages between the two groups.
The town of Pontianak was built by Syarif Abdurrahkan Alkadrie in 1771 who established the Pontianak Sultanate here. Today Pontianak is the seat of the provincial government of West Kalimantan.
A monument marking the exact location of the Equator was built here by a Dutch geographer and explorer, while upriver along the Kapuas, Dayak tribes live in harmony with migrants, staging wonderful events each year, including the sun’s culmination celebrations during the spring and autumnal equinox. Here, in Pontianak, you can find yourself standing on your own shadow, twice a year.
There are limitless sensational sceneries along the precious Kapuas River as you sit at the bow of the roaring speedboat. Floating empty canoes, stilt houses along the riversides, bathing mothers and their kids, hardworking fishermen, and colorful floating markets with old women sitting at the stern of noisy dinghies, are some of the picture-perfect visuals found along the bronzed-color water.
Chinese and Arabs are two of the migrant groups who developed this region. Shop houses are silent proof that Chinese traders have been there since centuries. The town of Singkawang, a city two-hours drive away from Pontianak, still has a large Chinese population. Singkawang is known for its excellent Chinese ceramics, which until today still produces “antique” style ceramics. Singkawang is also famous for its annual Cap Goh Meh celebrations, drawing descendents from around Indonesia.
Back in the city’s vicinity, at the edge of Kapuas River lies the Kadariah Sultanate with adjacent Masjid Jamie, the mosque that radiates the Islamic way of life. The magnificent history of the sultanate is an open book to welcome any traveler wishing to find out the stories of the city.