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.