THE LEGEND OF MAHSURI 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. 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. Mahsuri's Mausoleum 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. The village headman and his sons were killed fighting the Siamese and neither was his wife spared an untimely death. As for Mahsuri's family, they left Langkawi and settled in Thailand. No one knew much about what had happened to them until the year 2000 when the Kedah government located them on the island of Phuket. They were invited to Langkawi for a visit and to see if they would like to make the island their new home. The time for Mahsuri's seven generation old curse to end was at hand and it was hoped that with the arrival of her descendants, Langkawi could finally put its sad past behind and move forward towards prosperity and progress. Coincidence or not, one of the two siblings who are of the seventh generation descendants, is a young and pretty fourteen year old girl named Aisyah who bears a striking resemblance to Mahsuri as depicted in a portrait painted quite some time ago. The family has since returned to Phuket as they have not yet been able to make the all important decision of becoming Malaysian citizens and resettling in Langkawi.