Aside from being an archipelago of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea, the island of Langkawi boasts an abundance of stories and legends that make it an intriguing destination to visit.

For decades, the island has been well endowed with popular tales and stories, probably more so than any other islands in this part of the world. And while all these stories are, well, myths, there is one which is known to hover between myth and fact – the story of Mahsuri, a beautiful fair maiden who died a tragic death after she was allegedly accused of adultery.

Mahsuri’s Mausoleum, locally known as “Makam Mahsuri”, is located 12 kilometres from Kuah in Kampung Mawat, Ulu Melaka and is open for tourist visits. The famous tomb is said to be the final resting place of Mahsuri. Oddly enough, there are 14 differing versions of the Mahsuri story as it was handed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.

What we do know as fact is that the story goes back nearly 200 years, to the time of the powerful Sultanates of the Malay Archipelago when Mahsuri was considered to be the most beautiful woman in all of Langkawi. She was also the wife of Mat Deris, the son of a powerful chieftain.

As was required of Mat Deris, he had to go to war against an invading Siamese army, leaving Mahsuri behind to fend for herself. She did her best to deal with life alone, but as time passed Mahsuri struck up a friendship in the form of a young man named Deramang.

Despite Mahsuri’s deep love for her husband, her close friendship with Mahsuri soon lead people in her village to believe that there was more to the relationship and accused her of being an unfaithful wife. Following the old Islamic punishment for adultery, Mahsuri was tied to a tree (or pole) and stabbed to death.

Vehemently protesting her innocence as she was tied up, Mahsuri begged for mercy, but the villagers gave her no quarter. It is here that the myths begin. Legend says that the swords and machetes used by the executors could not injure her. Every spear they threw at her fell harmlessly at her feet. The villagers were baffled but remained convinced that Mahsuri was guilty of wrong-doing.

Finally, Mahsuri, having resigned herself to the fact that only her death would appease them, told the villagers how they could kill her. She would only die by the blade of the ceremonial sword kept at her home.

It is said that there was thunder and lightning as Mahsuri was fatally stabbed while white blood fl owed from her wound, signifying her innocence. With her dying breath, Mahsuri cursed Langkawi to have seven generations of bad luck. But who was responsible for starting accusation that Mahsuri was unfaithful?

Many versions of the legend claim that there were those who were so envious of Mahsuri’s beauty that they perpetuated the gossip. Another version of the story puts the cause of the rumour at a different door, saying that it was Mahsuri’s own mother-in-law’s evil doing which led to her tragic death. In that version of the tale Mahsuri’s mother-inlaw, Mahura, was so jealous of Mahsuri’s beauty that she plotted her death.

On the other hand, legend also has it that Mahura’s husband (Mahsuri’s father-in-law) had a deep longing for Mahsuri which is why Mahura was convinced that having her killed was the only way to stop him from loving her.

Whatever the factors that led to her killing, after Mahsuri’s death, she soon became a legend in Langkawi. Many villagers even believed she had possessed super natural powers and had cast a nasty spell on the island as a result of punishing her for something she didn’t do.

The locals of Langkawi believe the legend to be true, citing the Siamese invasion of 1821 and decades of failed crops that followed Mahsuri’s death. In fact, as per her words, it wasn’t until the end of the 20 th Century, after seven generations had supposedly come to pass, that Langkawi began to prosper as a tourist destination.