Salam Malam Jumaat
 |
| The great majestic of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South East Asia. |
There are two stories that led to the main beliefs in the origin of the mountain's
name.
The first derivation of the word Kinabalu is extracted from the short form
for the Kadazan Dusun word 'Aki Nabalu', meaning "the revered place of the
dead".
The second source states that the name "Kinabalu" actually means
"Cina Balu" (which would fully mean "A Chinese Widow"). Due
to the lingual influence among the Kadazan Dusun of Sabah, the pronunciation
for the word "cina" (chee-na) was changed to "Kina"
(kee-na).
It was told that a Chinese prince, was cast away to Borneo when his ship
sank in the middle of the South China Sea. He was subsequently rescued by the
natives from a nearby village. As he recovered, he was slowly accepted as one
of the people of the village. Eventually, he fell in love with a local woman,
and married her. Years went by, and he started to feel homesick. So he asked
permission from his newly found family to go back to China to visit his parents
(the Emperor and Empress of China). To his wife, he promised that as soon as he
was done with his family duties in China, he would come back to Borneo to take
her and their children back to China.
When he made his return to China, he was given a grand welcome by his
family. However, to his dismay, his parents disagreed with him about taking his
Bornean wife back to China. Worse, they told him that he was already betrothed
to a princess of a neighbouring kingdom. Having no choice (due to high respect
towards his parents), he obeyed with a heavy heart.
Meanwhile, back in Borneo, his wife grew more and more anxious. Eventually,
she decided that she will wait for her husband's ship. However, since the
village was situated far away from the coast, she couldn't afford to come to
the shore and wait for him daily. Instead she decided to climb to the top of
the highest mountain near her village, so that she could have a better view of
the ships sailing in the South China Sea. Thus, she was then seen climbing up
the mountain at every sunrise, returning only at night to attend to her growing
children.
Eventually her efforts took their toll. She fell ill, and died at the top
of the cold mountain while waiting for her husband. The spirit of the mountain,
having observed her for years, was extremely touched by her loyalty towards her
husband. Out of admiration for this woman, the spirit of the mountain turned
her into a stone. Her face was made to face the South China Sea, so that she
could wait forever for her dear husband's return.
The people in her hometown who heard about this were also gravely touched
by this. Thus, they decided to name the mountain "Kinabalu" in remembrance
of her. To them, the mountain is a symbol of the everlasting love and loyalty
that should be taken as a good example by women.
Local legend among the people of Ranau, a district in Sabah, has it that
St. John's Peak was the stone which her body was turned into.
 |
| There is some face formation on the rocks of Mount Kinabalu. |
 |
| Most of this face formation look like a smiling granny which some do believe is the spirit of Kinabalu. |
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan