Cave of Legends - Gua Cerita Langkawi
The cave is located offshore and at the northern water area of Langkawi. You will need a boat from Tanjung Rhu area to reach out to this lovely cave. Gua Cerita is also known as Cave of Legends because it is shrouded with several folk lore of the island.
The main legend says that many years ago when Prince of Rome and Princess of China were all set to get married, Garuda (the Phoenix and the eagle of Lord Vishnu) strongly resisted the marriage. Garuda felt that unification of the two major powers of the world may cause huge problems for the smaller kingdoms, who would soon get swallowed by this combined power.
Gua Cerita (Cave of Legends) Langkawi
Subsequently Garuda kidnapped the Princess of China and kept her hostage inside this cave. In fact if you happen to visit the cave, you will see a strange stone formation which looks like a sleeping princess.
Continuing on the legend, after kidnapping the princess, Garuda went on to destroy the fleet of Roman Prince, and a major war broke out. The fleet was commanded by a great warrior Merong Mahawangsa. And during that fierce battle, the Prince of Rome fell into the sea. He was carried by waves and strangely brought into the same cave location in Langkawi. Here he found his love back again and married her.
However Merong Mahawangsa was eventually defeated by Garuda and he had to flee, reached the nearest land and founded his own Kingdom Langkasuka, which is the modern day Kedah of Malaysia. This mythological story is known as 'Battle of Big Birds'.
The cave sits on sea water. There are two caves here, one on top of the other and both facing the sea. With the help of an wooden ladder, you can access the caves. Every year, many tourists take boat rides to visit the cave.
Another legend says that a giantess called Gadembi visited the cave thousands of years back. She had the supernatural power of turning anyone and anything into an ox. The moment she saw the cave, she liked it so much that she wanted to live here. But the existing inhabitants of the cave refused to vacate it.
Gadembi then used her power and turned all of them into stones. Locals say that there were various stone formations that could be once seen here that resembled the inhabitants of the caves. But they no longer exist. Other than many strange stone formations that still exist, you will also see many amazing stalactites and stalagmite formations in both the caves.
There are old Arabic script inscriptions on the walls of the lower chamber of the caves. They are hardly visible these days. But they do exist. It is anticipated that some of the scripts relate to the verses of Koran and some relate to Sheikh Baharuddin. They are believed to be written in the year 1754 during the time of Sultan Mohamed Jiwa II of Kedah.
How to reach Gua Cerita
You can take a motor boat from the river jetty of
Tanjung Rhu and easily reach Gua Cerita. There are plenty of boatmen waiting to offer tours to this cave and surrounding areas. You will be able to visit it anytime during the day.
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