The Legend of Puteri Gunung Ledang

The above picture belongs to one of the fliers of Puteri Gunung Ledang, The Musical.

Nenek Kebayan is closely related to Puteri Gunung Ledang or the Princess of Mount Ledang, where you see Puteri Gunung Ledang, Nenek Kebayan is around the corner. Hence I post this follow up information abridged from intranet.

The legend of Puteri Gunung Ledang is a well known legend happened in the District of Muar, north of Melaka. It is believed that this beautiful jinn princess still living on top of the Mount Ledang today. She is said to have seven sisters originated from Java, Indonesia. However, her other relatives in Malay Peninsula are:

·         Puteri Gunung Banang in Batu Pahat

·         Puteri Gunung Panti in Kota Tinggi

·         Puteri Gunung Beremban between the border of Johor and Pahang

All of the jinn princess cannot be seen by ordinary human beings. They can only be seen through special training skills such as the Malay shamans.

According to story narrated, Puteri Gunung Ledang stayed at the top of Mount Mahligai. She had a lover who is called Putera Mambang lived on top of Mount Rundok. It was said that the tip of Mount Rundok will approach Mount Mahligai until early morning because the two lovers wanted to spend time together. Since such act was against the curse of jinn; the tip of Rundok Mount are slanted till today.

The two lovers finally got married. After the wedding, they went to Pulau Besar in the Straits of Malaka for honeymoon. One day Putera Mambang accidently pricked his hands with a swing needle and died consequently. So the princess was very sad, and she hugged her husband’s body and sworn that she will never get married again. After that the Puteri went back to Ledang Mount.

As the story goes, Sultan Mahmud of Melaka (1488-1588) subsequently made a marriage proposal to Puteri Gunung Ledang at a later date. But the Puteri requested 7 types of presents:

·         7 trays of mosquito’s heart

·         7 trays of germ’s heart

·         1 barrel of virgin’s tears as her bathing water

·         1 barrel of betel nut juice

·         1 bowl of blood drawn from His Majesty

·         1 bowl of blood drawn from His Majesty’s son, Raja Ahmad

·         A silver and a gold bridge to connect Melaka and Mount Ledang

Sultan Mahmud agreed to grant all requests except the blood of his son Raja Ahmad.

It is believed that Puteri Gunung Ledang’s nonsensical demands were just an excuse to decline the marriage proposal from His Majesty the Sultan of Melaka at that time; as she is still loyal to Putera Mambang who died in Pulau Besar.

Today Mount Ledang is one of well known recreational destinations in Malaysia. However many people still believe Mount Ledang is a sacred place; please do not do anything that is against religious practice. It is said that the Puteri herself will come down very hard on the offenders. So be warned.