THE LEGEND OF PUTERI SANTUBONG.

Gunung Santubong is very well known in Sarawak. Most Sarawakians would have heard stories about Mt. Santubong from their parents, grandparents or from many other sources. If we drive towards the Sarawak Cultural Village located not very far from the Santubong fishing village, from the Santubong Bridge, we could see Mt. Santubong quite clearly. From afar Mt. Santubong looked like a pregnant woman lying on her back.

Mt. Santubong is located about 35 km north of Sarawak capital city, Kuching. It is about 2,658 ft high. The mountain and the areas

surrounding it are popular with tourists. According to studies done on Santubong it was stated that it was first inhabited by the Ibans. The name Santubong originated from an Iban word ‘si antu ubong’ or the ‘spirit boat’. This spirit boat is actually a coffin shaped like a boat carved from a single log to represent a vessel used by the spirit of the dead to travel to the other world.

When Gunung Santubong is mentioned inevitably the name Gunung Sejinjang would surface too. There is a legend associated with these mountains and there were a few versions of it. There is also a folksong written about the legend, called “Puteri Santubong”. The lyric is in the local Sarawak Malay dialect.

Oh oh Puteri Santubong, Sejinjang sayang

Kisah lamak, zaman menseya

Puteri Santubong, Puteri Sejinjang

Penjaga gunung negeri Sarawak

Manis sik ada dapat di lawan

Anak dak dewa turun kayangan

(Chorus) Oooo Santubong puteri

Menenun kain ….malam

Oooo Sejinjang puteri

Menumbuk padi…siang

Satu hari nya duak kelayi

Beranok anok sik renti renti

Serong madah dirik bagus agik

Serong sik ngalah walau sampei kemati

Udah lejuk nya duak kelayi

Lalu betukuk nya duak puteri

Sejinjang mengayun aluk ke pipi

Tebik Santubong sampei gituk ari

Tapi Santubong membalas juak

Lalu ditikam batang belidak

Sampei tekenak Sejinjang kepalak

Lalu betabor jadi pulo kerak

Kisah Santubong, kisah Sejinjang

Asal bekawan jadi musuhan

Kinek tuk tinggal jadi kenangan

Pakei ingatan sepanjang zaman.

Yalah kisah duak rang puteri

Suka kelayi setiap hari

Lalu disumpah raja kayangan

Menjadi gunung negeri Sarawak.

This song is about two princesses who were sent from the celestial kingdom (kayangan) to help bring about peace between two feuding villages on earth. With their beauty and charms they were able to stop the fighting. The people were so grateful that they begged them to stay. Puteri Santubong took up weaving and Puteri Sejinjang planted and pounded paddy to get rice. Both of them were renowned for their beauty however, Puteri Santubong attracted more suitors and this made Puteri Sejinjang jealous.

They fought and quarrelled incessantly about who was more beautiful. One day the argument became so heated that Sejinjang became violent. She hit Santubong on her cheeks with the pestle she used for

pounding the paddy. Santubong fell and grew into what is now known as Mt. Santubong. Before she fell Santubong threw the beam of her weaving loom at Sejinjang causing her head to be broken into various parts, some fell into the sea to become islands and the other parts of her body fell near Santubong to become Mt. Sejinjang.

Today if one views Santubong from the sea one could see an outline of a pregnant woman and even the dent or crevice on the side of her head where Sejinjang had hit her with the pestle. Such was the sad ending to the feuds between the two princesses as narrated in the folksong “Puteri Santubong”.

The legend of Mt. Santubong has many different versions. I will relate the two popular versions. One of the often narrated versions tells of two princesses Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sijinjang who lived in the celestial kingdom (Kayangan). Puteri Santubong was a skilled weaver and she weaved many beautiful pieces of fabric. Puteri Sejinjang was renowned for her skills in pounding rice. She pounded the tastiest rice in the kingdom.

During the early years it seemed that there was communication and interaction between the celestial kingdom and earth. One day the King saw that two villages on earth were feuding. The villages, Pasir Putih

and Pasir Kuning started a feud which escalated into serious fighting. The king sent Puteri Santubong to Pasir Kuning and Puteri Sejinjang to Pasir Putih to help the two villages settle their feud.

With their charms and talents the two princesses were able to divert the villagers for their incessant fighting to pursue more lucrative activities. The villagers from Pasir Kuning weaved beautiful fabrics while those from Pasir Putih prospered with their rice. Because they were busy with their works the villagers stopped fighting, peace reigned in both villages.

The two princesses lived quite harmoniously for sometimes. However, they became jealous of one another when each claimed to be more beautiful than the other. The jealousy caused them to continue fighting one another. Eventually the fight got very serious and they begun hurting one another. One day Sejinjang hurt Santubong and killed her when she threw the pestle that she used to pound her rice on Santubong’s head. Before Santubong died and became Mt. Santubong she threw the beam of her weaving loom on Sejinjang and caused her head and body to break into parts. Some of the parts became islands and the other became Mt. Sejinjang.

Another version narrated that the two princesses were the daughters of the Sultan of Brunei who escaped with their seven brothers after

their father was killed in a plot that took place in the 18 Century. According to the legend they had to cross the South China Sea to travel to Peninsular Malaysia and it would be cumbersome to bring along their two sisters, Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang. They decided to leave them at the area around what is now Gunung Santubong. The Ibans who frequent the area were mystified and curious about the presence of the two princesses. They believed that the two princesses must have descended from heaven (Kayangan) to be the guardian of the mountainous area at Santubong.

The two princesses stayed together in the area but could not get along well. They were always fighting with one another over who was the most beautiful. Eventually Puteri Sejinjang decided to move to the mountain across Gunung Santubong which was later named Gunung Sejinjang.

The feud between the two princesses escalated day by day. They became vicious enemies and eventually led to a fight culminating in their death. That was how the legend of Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang started.

There was another version of the legend that was often told. This one also talked about the two beautiful princesses, Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang who lived in the celestial kingdom (Kayangan). Puteri Santubong was renowned for her weaving skills and the fabrics she

weaved were exquisitely beautiful and unmatched by anyone in the celestial kingdom. Puteri Sejinjang on the other hand was well known for her skills in pounding paddy for rice. The rice was the tastiest ever produced in the celestial kingdom.

During that time there was communication between the earthly kingdom and the celestial kingdom. One day the king found out that there was constant fighting between two villages on earth, Kampong Pasir Putih and Kampong Pasir Kuning. When the fighting became more serious and did not show any sign of abating the king decided to send the two princesses to the two villages to bring about peace. Puteri Santubong was sent to Pasir Kuning and Puteri Sejinjang to Pasir Putih.

Both princesses used their charms and skills to settle the disputes between the two villages. Puteri Santubong taught the skills of weaving to the villagers and the fabrics they produced were sold for money. Puteri Sejinjang too used the same strategy with her skills with regards to the production of rice. The two villagers forgot about their squabbles and concentrated on their lucrative trades. As a result peace reigned in the two villages.

The two princesses when they were sent to earth had made a pact that they would not become enemies. However, they could not keep their promise when suitors from near and far started pursuing them for their hands in marriage. They were always fighting about who was the most

beautiful between the two of them. Although they had many suitors they did not fall in love with any of them until they met crown prince of Serapi. The crown prince was so handsome that both princesses fell in love with him. He in return fell in love with both of them! He asked for both their hands however, both princesses refused to be in a polygamous marriage.

The feud between the two princesses escalated. They exchanged harsh words and eventually their quarrel become more violent. One day their quarrel got out of hand and they started hitting one another. Puteri Sejinjang used the pestle she used for pounding rice to hit Puteri Santubong and caused a crack on her cheeks. In retaliation Puteri Santubong used her sharp and heavy weaving tool to hit Puteri Sejinjang’s head and caused it to break into many pieces. The pieces fell into the sea and became islands. According to the legend Pulau Kera, Pulau Satang, Pulau Lakir and Pulau Talang Talang were formed from those pieces. Puteri Santubong died because she lost a lot of blood. Puteri Sejinjang died when her head broke into many pieces.

The king of the celestial kingdom was very angry with the two princesses because they fought over a mere mortal. He cursed both of them. Puteri Santubong turned into Mt. Santubong while Puteri Sejinjang became Mt. Sejinjang. The story goes that to this day we

could see the crack on Santubong while Sejinjang is not very high because her head was broken into many small pieces and scattered into the sea.

These were the more popular versions of the legend. The other versions were almost similar but with minor variations.