Puteri Gunung Ledang the legendary princess
Once upon at time…. Ops sorry, it’s not that long as the story originated during the reign of Sultan Mahmud Syah (1488-1528). It was believed that there lived a beautiful fairy princess by the name of Puteri Gunung Ledang at the peak of Mount Ledang. One day, her beauty and gracefulness reached the ruler of Melaka that was Sultan Mahmud Syah. At that time, Sultan Mahmud’s wife (queen) had just passed away and he was quite sad (for some time). Although the concerned Ministers of Melaka have presented quite a number of beautiful princess and daughters of ministers as his wife candidate, all of them were rejected with all kind of excuses. However, when he heard about the stories of Princess Gunung Ledang and her astonishing beauty, immediately he was struck with a cupid arrow! His Majesty sent a team of messengers to propose marriage to the beautiful princess. The team consists of Laksamana Hang Tuah, Sang Setia and Tun Mamat. The journey up to the Gunung Ledang was long and full of obstacles. Unfortunately for them, midway up the mountain heavy storms occurred. They couldn’t climb up and the aged Laksamana Hang Tuah couldn’t continue the journey. Therefore, Tun Mamat continued the journey alone and managed to reach the peak of Mount Ledang. Surprisingly, he found a serene garden full of blooming flowers, colourful birds chirpping and butterflies flying around. Suddenly, someone appear before him. Who do you think it was? The beautiful princess, her servant or something else…. I think you guys (as well of Tun Mamat) might be happy if the princess appears before Tun Mamat. However, the person that appeared before him was Nenek Kebayan, an old lady who served the princess. After Tun Mamat had introduced himself and conveyed His Majesty Sultan Mahmud marriage proposal, Nenek Kebayan disappeared for a moment to refer the matter to Princess Gunung Ledang. Here comes the best part! Nenek Kebayan reappeared with a message from Puteri Gunung Ledang that was the princess will only accept the marriage proposal if the following marriage gifts were prepared: 1. A golden bridge connecting Mount Ledang to the Melaka Sultan’s Palace. 2. Another silver bridge for her to walk back to Mount Ledang. 3. 7 trays of mosquitoes' heart. 4. 7 trays of germ's heart. 5. 7 jars of virgins’ tears as her bathing water. 6. 7 bowls of young betel nut juice. 7. One bowl of His Majesty’s son, Raja Ahmad’s blood. Later the team returned to Melaka and conveyed the Princess requests. It was believed that the love struck Sultan Mahmud was able to fulfill the first six requests which caused the ruin of Melaka Kingdom. However, when he tried to sacrifice his son, Puteri Gunung Ledang appeared before him, stopped him from committing the sinful act and condemned him of his actions (in preparing the marriage gifts). It was believed that her out of norm marriage gifts were just an excuse to reject Sultan Mahmud marriage proposal as she is still loyal to her late husband who died in Pulau Besar. Today Gunung Ledang is one of the destinations for relaxation, water recreation site, camping and mountain hiking. However, please take note that Gunung Ledang is still believed to be as a sacred place. Please ask for permission in your heart before passing urine and do not venture into Mount Ledang alone. If you are lucky, you might see a glimpse of Puteri Gunung Ledang as she is believed to be not from this world!
Return from Puteri Gunung Ledang to Melaka Folklore
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