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Langkawi
is a legendary island in more sense than one. Other than
its wonderful beaches, its beautiful legends are what draws
a visitor to its shores. The legends are all the more real
simply because its people are convinced of their authenticity.
As such, a keen sense of mystique and mystery surrounds
the island and lends charm and intrigue to an otherwise
quiet and calm fade.
Of A Woman Wronged…
Once upon a time, there lived in Langkawi, a childless couple,
Pandak Maya and Mak Andam, who prayed for a child. Their
prayers were answered when they had Mahsuri, a sweet delightful
child who grew into a beautiful young woman.
Being
such a beauty, she had many suitors but she soon married
a warrior in her village. Their idyllic lives were disrupted
when her husband went off to defend their village against
attackers. A travelling poet arrived at the village and
Mahsuri was said to have allowed him to stay at her house.
This soon gave rise to the vicious gossip that Mahsuri was
a faithless wife. |
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Another
version claims that Mahsuri's mother-in-law was jealous of her
while others say that a spurned suitor was behind the treachery.
Yet another version says that the village headman was so enamoured
of Mahsuri, that he tried to make full use of her husband's absence
to his advantage. Needless to say, his wife was not amused and
plotted to have Mahsuri punished and done away with. Hence, she
accused Mahsuri of being an adulteress, an offense puni Despite
her parents' pleas and the cries of her child at her skirts,Mahsuri
was dragged away and tied to a tree. Vehemently protesting her
innocence, she begged for mercy, but the villagers, under the
influence of the headman's wife, gave her no quarter. The people
really should have believed her when all the spears that they
threw at her fell harmlessly at her feet. They were baffled but
still convinced that Mahsuri was guilty of wrongdoing. They would
not release her no matter what. shable by death.
Finally, Mahsuri, having resigned herself that only her death
would appease them, told them how they could kill her. She would
only die by the blade of the ceremonial sword kept at her home.
Someone was sent to fetch it and legend has it that the sky became
overcast and there was thunder and lightning as Mahsuri was fatally
stabbed. It is said that Mahsuri bled white blood, symbolising
her innocence and purity, and with her dying breath, she laid
a curse on Langkawi and its inhabitants, proclaiming that they
would know no prosperity nor progress for seven generations.
Soon
after her death, Langkawi was attacked by the Siamese. To prevent
the invaders from getting the upper hand, the villagers poisoned
their wells and burnt their padi fields, which effectively put
an end to their food supply and means of income for the coming
year. The evidence of this burning can still be seen today, two
hundred years later, as charred and blackened rice grains surface
from the ground especially after it rains heavily. Do you not
think it strange that the rice grains have not turned into soil
after so long? Some things have to be seen or experienced firsthand
to be believed.
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