Santubong, Sarawak

Vivien was not very detailed about the legend of this famous mountain in Kuching. I even remembered a local song about Puteri Santubong. According to her it was about 2 princesses from heaven who was jealous of each other for the love of a handsome prince. What else huh? Thus, they argued and fought with each other and Santubong chopped off her sister's head. Both were punished and turned into the mountains.

Vivien, was our tourist guide for the day and she decided to take us to the Sarawak Cultural Village which was in the district of Santubong. A quick search in the internet revealed this most accepted version of the legend :- taken from The Star Online, July 18, 2013 "Enduring Lesson from Legend" by Muhammad Syafiq Nair

Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang were daughters of the King of Heaven and were the two most beautiful princesses in the world and they descended from their heavenly palaces to take care of the mountains in Sarawak and people who lived there. On earth, they worked just as normal people did: Puteri Santubong worked as a weaver while Puteri Sejinjang worked as a paddy thumper. They were best friends and they did many things together. However, their friendship did not last.

One day, a handsome prince from a land afar came to Sarawak. His name was Putera Jaya and the prince, after meeting Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang, fell in love with the former.This did not go well with Puteri Sejinjang as she also fell in love with the prince.

At first, there was no conflict between Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang but eventually things changed when Puteri Santubong also fell in love with the prince. She spent most of her days with the prince while ignoring Puteri Sejinjang. Not only did Puteri Santubong neglect Puteri Sejinjang, she was also careless in carrying out her job as the warden of the mountains and its people, including her job as a weaver. This did not bode well with Puteri Sejinjang as not only had she lost her best friend but she also had to shoulder extra responsibilities guarding the mountain and its people.

Now both princesses no longer talked to each other and the only time the two princesses did so was when they hurled curses and accusations at each other. The people suffered from this and natural disasters came one after the other. Puteri Sejinjang finally decided that enough was enough and went to see Puteri Santubong. When they met, all hell broke loose and the people suffered a great thunderstorm that lasted for days.

Puteri Sejinjang slapped Puteri Santubong’s face so hard that it dislocated Puteri Santubong’s jaw and this can be seen when one looks at Gunung Santubong, the manifestation of the great slap by Puteri Sejinjang. Not wanting to be outdone, Puteri Santubong took a sharp pole and threw it towards Puteri Sejinjang and it hit her head that shattered into pieces. That is why when one passes Gunung Santubong, one can see a group of small islands beside it, the remnants of Puteri Sejinjang. The group of small islands are called Pilo Kerak (Isles of Monkey).

Deep remorse flooded Puteri Santubong after killing her best friend and Putera Jaya, upon learning about the killing, deserted Puteri Santubong and went back to his own country.

The people rejected Puteri Santubong and in great despair, she went to Puteri Sejinjang’s body and cried for many days. As days passed, Puteri Santubong was on the brink of death and she called to the heavens for her father but to no avail. During her final moments, she was cursed to become a mountain – Gunung Santubong, as a lesson for all.

Mt. Santubong - notice the shape of a face - this view was taken from the Bidayuh House at Sarawak Cultural Village