Did You Know Malaysia Has A Lot of Fairytale Princesses And Legends As Well? [Part 2]

Before there was Malaysia, there were multiple kingdoms here with kings, princesses, battles, mythical creatures and more.

(Credit: A Hikayat A Day, myinfotaip, Kosmo)

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Apart from Puteri Gunung Ledang, Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang, there are other famous legendary princesses that lived in Malaysia long ago too. You might not have heard of their names but their tales are just as interesting as the ones above.

Did you know that some of these stories are even adapted to films and dramas here in Malaysia? That goes to show that our country is indeed rich with tradition and literature.

Here, we listed a few more fairytale princesses and legends you might wanna know. Grab your popcorn and read on!

1. Puteri Gunung Banang

This princess is rarely known by the public. But did you know that Puteri Gunung Banang of Batu Pahat is actually said to be related to Puteri Gunung Ledang of Muar. You know, the popular story of the princess subtly rejecting the King of Melacca with the 7 preposterous conditions? Puteri Gunung Ledang was also made into a big-budget Malaysian movie that tells the romantic but forbidden love between the princess and Hang Tuah, the legendary Malaccan warrior.

Carrying on with Princess Gunung Banang, it is also said that the princesses had seven siblings that came from Java, Indonesia and each had a mountain to guard here in Johor. Among the sisters were Puteri Gunung Panti in Kota Tinggi and Puteri Gunung Beremban along the border of Pahang and Johor. All of the princesses can’t be seen with naked eyes as they are said to be mythical beings (bunian) usually ‘helping’ people who got lost in the mountains.

The story of Puteri Gunung Banang may not be as well known but, it was adapted into a classic movie in 1959 by Malay Film Productions Ltd in Singapore at the time. There are many variations to the story but this particular one is from the film.

The tale tells a story of a beautiful woman with magical powers residing in Mount Banang. She supposedly helped this one poor old guy with a heart of gold who went searching for some roots and shrubs at Gunung Banang. In a hidden cave, she gave him one magical root that transformed him into a young handsome lad again and said that he was one of the lucky ones to be chosen.

Puteri Gunung Banang, played by Sri Dewi in the 1959 film.
(Credit: Puteri Gunong Banang Movie)

However, as fate would have it, the man’s greedy brother, saw his transformation and went to the princess himself to demand the same outcome. When given the powers, he turned extra greedy and was willing to even double-cross the princess. Not taking any of that, the badass princess cursed him into stone and finally to a monkey to teach him a lesson. And that was the tale of Puteri Gunung Banang. Maybe he can get away with double-crossing a mere mortal, but double-crossing a bunian? Tough luck.

2. Puteri Bidasari

Many of you have heard the Snow White story, right? But do you know there’s a Malaysian version of it too? The story is based on a romantic Malay poem called Syair Bidasari, popular in the Nusantara during the 18th and 19th centuries. The text was believed to be written in the 1750s and has similarities with the Snow White tale in the fairy-tale compilation done by The Brothers Grimm in 1812.

The story goes like this, long ago, in the ancient Inderapura kingdom (old Pahang kingdom), a couple saw a baby drifting along the river on a raft, all alone and only accompanied by a bowl of goldfish. The couple noticed the raft belonged to royalty and decided to take a look at the baby and the goldfish. The husband picked the goldfish out of the water and they both noticed that immediately, the baby stopped breathing. When they put it back, she started breathing again and that’s when they knew that her life and the goldfish’s life were co-dependent. They adopted the baby and named her Bidasari.

When she grew up to be a beautiful maiden (prettiest in the land as the magic mirror said), an evil queen there noticed her presence and wanted her out of the equation as only she could be the prettiest in the land (as most evil queens would do). After the queen’s futile efforts to destroy Bidasari’s looks by making her a palace servant, she found out that Bidasari’s life was bonded to the goldfish. The queen captured the goldfish and took it out of the water.

Illustration of Puteri Bidasari in a children’s book.
(Credit: Emila Yusof / Legendary Princesses of Malaysia)

As anticipated, Bidasari fell unconscious and was taken back to her parents’ place, hidden in her father’s garden deep in a forest, away from people. But as fate would have it, came a prince out of nowhere who discovered the beautiful maiden in a peaceful slumber. At the same time, the queen accidentally got the goldfish back in the water and so Bidasari came alive and conveniently told the prince everything that dolefully happened to her. The prince took matters into his own hands and finally got the fish back to Bidasari and they lived happily ever after.

3. Puteri Ulek Mayang

Have you ever heard the Ulek Mayang song or dance? ‘Ulek‘ means invoking the spirits in a song while ‘Mayang’ means the coconut palm blossom used to chase away spirits. Back then before Islam came to Malaya, this ritualistic dance (associated with animism) was done at sunset by the beach to invoke the spirits of the sea or to cure a sick person.

It gets creepier than that. Supposedly if anybody sang the original version of the song up till the seventh princess, the spirits of the princesses would come and haunt you. But that’s just some made-up hypothesis. Or is it?

The ritual, now done only for entertainment, was said to be done near the sea at sunset.
(Credit: Kosmo)

This chilling tradition actually comes from a tragic love story between a fisherman and a sea princess. One day, a group of fishermen got lost in the sea and one particular fisherman caught the attention of the youngest (out of seven) sea princess. She fell in love with him and took his soul away from his body, yearning to cherish it. When all of the fishermen were found alive by the beach the next day, that one particular lad was alive but unconscious. His friends called up a shaman to bring him back.

The shaman performed some rituals by the sea to claim back the soul of the man. This enraged the sea princess and she called up her five sisters for backup. The battle between the shaman and the princesses went on for quite some time until finally, the eldest and wisest of the sisters descended from the heavens. Being the most mature one, she ended the feud simply by commanding “I know your origins, let those who came from the sea, return back to the sea and let those who came from the land, return back to the land,” to everyone. And they followed.

Imagery illustration of the six princesses that got on a battle with the shaman.
(Credit: Kosmo)

Grateful for the help, the shaman and his friends presented coloured rice to the princess as an offering to the spirits of the sea. Since then, if anyone wanted to go to the sea, this ritual was done to appease and worship those spirits for protection and good luck until the Islamization movement came. Nowadays, the Ulek Mayang dance is only done as an artistic and traditional performance, not a way to call up spirits anymore. Better be careful which spirits you’re calling, guys.

4. Puteri Saadong

Kelantan is known to be the state of Cik Siti Wan Kembang right? But who was she? She was the sole legendary female ruler of Kelantan once upon a time, in the 17th century. Known to be a gorgeous and wise warrior queen, she never married and adopted a daughter named Puteri Saadong. No one knew where or when Cik Siti Wan Kembang died but legend has it that she just ‘disappeared’ into the mystical world. Following her disappearance, Puteri Saadong succeeded her as the ruler of Kelantan. Now let’s focus on her.

Puteri Saadong and Raja Abdullah, played by actors in the drama series Tuan Petri Saadong.
(Credit: myinfotaip)

Puteri Saadong herself was royalty as she was the youngest daughter of Raja Jembal but after her mother died, she was adopted by Cik Siti Wan Kembang and brought up in Bukit Marak. Also a gorgeous lady, the princess was married off to Raja Abdullah at the age of 15 and both of them fell deeply in love with each other later on.

However, to add spice to the story, her beauty and skills intrigued the king of Siam at the time. Being a powerful kingdom back then, he ordered Puteri Saadong to be his concubine in exchange for the lives of her people and beloved husband to be spared. Left with no choice, she sacrificed herself to the king of Siam and her husband, as sweet as he was, vowed to never remarry and to wait for her return.

Gua Puteri Saadong, located in Bukit Marak, Bachok, Kelantan.
(Credit: Na d zirahata / blog)

Nevertheless, when she came to Siam, the king fell terribly ill and this is said to be associated with her presence. She asked him to grant her freedom if she could heal the sickness that fell upon him. As she got her freedom back, she returned to her kingdom with great anticipation only to find out that her “loyal” husband, King Abdullah, remarried. Filled with rage and betrayal, she stabbed the king (some say it was accidental) with her hairpin and left the scene. Some say that she went into hiding in Bukit Marak and some said she was never to be seen again.

So, men. Never make a promise you can’t keep. You could get stabbed to death with a hairpin.

5. Puteri Naga Bari

This Iban myth revolves around forbidden love and mystical powers. There is a place in Sibu, Sarawak where supposedly a benevolent spirit called Naga Bari dwells. Naga Bari as the legend goes, was said to be a beautiful magical Iban princess (or a man cursed to be a dragon, some sources say) that lived in Bukit Aup and the Ibans believe that the princess can help cure infertility with her divine powers.

Long ago, a few mythical princesses from the bunian world descended down to earth just to take a bath at a lake that they liked. Their father actually forbade them to help any other beings other than them bunians. But one day while they were bathing there, one princess noticed a mere mortal man drowning in the lake and she saved him. He introduced himself as Bari and she fell in love.

Not approving of this relationship, her father cursed the man into a dragon (hence, the Naga Bari name) and forbade the princesses to ever return to the heavens. The said daughter begged forgiveness from her father and for him to reconsider.

Eventually, he gave a condition where the princesses had to fulfill the wishes of mortals that came to the lake asking for help, and only then will he forgive them as well as one day bring them back to the heavens. He also said that the water in the lake will never be dried up even if there’s draught. Just as he said, till today, the lake or pool that the princesses had a bath in has never been dry.

Hence, locals there even to this day, believed that they could seek the princess’s help by performing ‘miring‘ (offering ritual) at the peak of Bukit Aup.

So, there you have it, guys. Malaysian folklore are just interesting aren’t they? There’s actually a lot more going on here before we became Malaysia.

Some of these stories are legends as proofs of their existence are present and some are just tall tales passed on by the locals to entertain their people. We hope you too are entertained by these stories.

Wanna know more? Get to know the amazing stories of Princess Zaleha of Kedah, Princess Walinong Sari of Pahang and Tun Fatimah of Melaka below.

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