The Thousand Islands Regency is developing Panjang Island as a new tourist destination. One of the concepts that will be made is to make this island as a religious tourism destination considering there is the tomb of Sultan Maulana Mahmud Zakaria, a nobleman from the Sultanate of Banten.

We're currently making an access road to the tomb using a 200-meter long conblock

Thousand Islands Regent, Junaedi said, improvements continue to be made to support the Island as a new tourist destination.

"We're currently making an access road to the tomb using a 200-meter long conblock. The progress has touched around 20 percent," he expressed, Sunday (11/7).

Tomb Caretaker, Easyir said, until now no one knows the exact origin of the Sultan Maulana Mahmud Zakaria's tomb. Its existence was known by his grandmother through wisik that it was detected on Panjang Island.

"This tomb is guarded by his family who are also descendants of the elders of Kelapa Island. Besides that, there are also two more tombs that are great-grandmothers of mine, so every time an order comes through wisik including to take care of the tomb," he expressed.

According to him, to care for the tomb was once offered and returned to the urban village. Unfortunately, no one was able and again got the dream wisik thus the tomb was guarded by his wife named, Mursidah bin Muhabah bin Syalbi.  

"Syalbi is the grandfather of Mursidan who was an ancient Kelapa Island elder. Thus, pilgrims who want to go to the tomb will have their prayers opened by my wife before entering the tomb area," he explained.

So, it was not only as a place for religious tourism, but also water tourism that would be able to improve the economy of the local residents on Kelapa Island.

"Alhamdulillah, there has been construction of road access to the location and we propose to build a prayer room and repair the damaged tomb area building," he explained.

Kelapa Island Urban Village Head, Irfan Damanhuri said, the existence of the tomb of Sultan Maulana Mahmud Zakaria had long been known to the public and was used as a place of pilgrimage by residents.

"Every month, at least 50 tourists from Jakarta and outside the area come for pilgrimage," he exclaimed.

To get to Panjang Island, he added, tourists can use traditional boats from Kaliadem Port to Kelapa Island and then take a boat taxi to Panjang Island.

"It only takes about ten minutes. If you want to rest first, you can stay at homestays on Kelapa Island," he stated.

Besides being able to visit the tomb of Sultan Maulana Mahmud Zakaria, tourists can also enjoy the beauty of Panjang Island beach and do snorkeling.

"We'll continue to improve our facilities and infrastructure. Hopefully, the island can also have a pier so that ships can also dock," he closed.