Kemaro Island is located in the middle of the Musi River in Palembang, South Sumatra. According to local legend, the island is always dry despite high water levels, giving it the name "Kemaro" which means "dry" in the local language. The legend says that in the Sriwijaya kingdom, the king's daughter Siti Fatimah fell in love with a Chinese trader named Tan Bun Ann. When Tan Bun Ann's families failed to bring the required gold dowry due to a misunderstanding, Siti Fatimah and Tan Bun Ann both drowned in the river trying to retrieve it. Their graves later formed the island now called Kemaro Island, which features tourist attractions

1. Kemaro Islandis locatedin the middle of Musi River in
Palembang, South Sumatera."Kemaro"is a wordfrom Palembang
which means "kemarau" in Indonesia, or "dry" in English.
According to Palembang people, the island is given that name
because the islandis never gettingwet, in other words, this island
is always dry although the volume of water in Musi River is
getting greater.
There is a legend from Palembang about Kemaro
Island. Once upon a time, thekingwhich was leading in Sriwijaya
kingdom had a daughter, who was called Siti Fatimah. She was
very beautiful. She fell in love witha traderfromChina, Tan Bun
Ann. BothSiti Fatimah andTanBun Ann loved each other. One
day, Tan Bun Ann wanted to marry Siti Fatimah. Siti Fatimah’s
father, thekingofSriwijaya kingdom,offered some requirements
for Tan Bun Annbefore marriedwith Siti Fatimah.The kingasked
him to bring 9 bags of gold. Tan Bun Ann’s families in China
agreed with the requirements.
Tan Bun Ann’s families put the gold in the bag, and
they coveredit with somevegetables toavoidsomepirates at that
time, but TanBun Ann didn’t know about it. Later, the nine big
jars from China arrivedat the pier of Musi River. Tan Bun Ann
immediately looked for the jars. He was so surprised. When he
opened the cover of the jar, he saw rotten vegetables. He only
lookedat the topof the jar.he didnot search at the bottom of the
jars. Every time he didnot see any goldin the jar,he always threw
it to the river. Andfinally heopenedthe last jar. Again, he did not
see any gold. This timehe was so tired. He didnot have anypower
to throwthe jarinto theriver. Insteadhe smashedthejar with a big
stone.
Andwhen the jar was broken, TanBun Ann found the
gold! He knewhe made a mistake. He immediatelyjumped to the
river. He wantedtocollect the gold that sank into the river. Siti
Fatimah sawwhat was happening. She waitedfor TanBun Ann at
the river bank, but he never showed up. She was impatient. She
also wanted to jump and catch him up.
Before she jumped, she told her guards a message, "If
yousee a pile of soil on the river bank, and that means it is my
grave." Then she jumped into the river. The guards waited and
waited. Andseveral days the people sawa pile of soil. The soil was
gettingbigger andbigger. It finally became an island. The people
named it Kemaro Island.
Andthere are sometourism objects in Kemaro Island
such as 9 Pagoda, the tombof Tan Bun An and Siti Fatimah, and
Tree of Love which is said if there are couples who carve their
names in this tree then their relationship will continue until the
level of marriage.