The Goddess Who Came To Live With Mankind

: Folk-tales Of The Khasis

(A LEGEND OF THE SHILLONG PEAK)





Shillong Peak is the highest mountain in the Khasi Hills, and although

it bears such a prosaic name in our days, the mountain was a place of

renown in the days of the Ancient Khasis, full of romance and mystery,

sacred to the spirits and to the gods. In those days the mountain

itself, and the whole country to the north of it, was one vast forest,

where dwelt d mons and dragons, who cast evil spells and caused dire

sickness to fall upon any unfortunate person who happened to spend

a night in that wild forest.



In the mountain there lived a god. At first the Ancients had no clear

revelation about this deity; they were vaguely aware of his existence,

but there was no decree that sacrifices should be offered to him. After

a time there arose among the Khasis a very wise man of the name

of U Shillong who was endowed with great insight to understand the

mysteries, and he discovered that the god of the mountain was great

and powerful, and sacrifice and reverence should be offered to him,

and he taught his neighbours how to perform the rites acceptably. The

name of the deity was not revealed, so the people began to call him "U

'Lei Shillong" (the god of U Shillong) after the name of the man who

first paid him homage. Then gradually he came to be called "the god

Shillong," and in time the mountain itself was called the mountain

of Shillong, and from this is derived the name of the present town

of Shillong.



Possibly the god Shillong was, and remains, one of the best-known

and most generally reverenced of all the Khasi gods, for even on

the far hill-tops of Jaintia altars have been raised to his service

and honour. Although sacrifices are being offered to him at distant

shrines, the abode of the god is in the Shillong mountain, more

especially in the sacred grove on the summit of the peak itself,

which is such a familiar landmark in the country.



Judging from tradition, this deity was regarded as a benign and

benevolent being, forbearing in his attitude towards mankind, who were

privileged to hunt in his forests unhindered by dangers and sicknesses,

and the dances of mankind were acceptable in his sight. He frequently

assisted them in their misfortunes and helped them to overcome the

oppression of demons. It was he who endowed U Suidnoh with wisdom

to fight and to conquer U Thlen, the great snake-god and vampire

from Cherrapoonjee, and it was by his intervention that Ka Thei and

her sister were delivered from the grasp of the merciless demon,

U Ksuid Tynjang.



Tradition also points out that this famous deity had a wife and

family, and three at least of his daughters are renowned in Khasi

folk-lore. One of them transformed herself into the likeness of

a Khasi maiden and came to live with mankind, where she became

the ancestress of a race of chiefs. Two other daughters, out of

playfulness, transformed themselves into two rivers, and are with us

in that form to this day. This is the story of the goddess who came

to live with mankind:



Many hundreds of years ago, near the place now known as Pomlakrai,

there was a cave called the Cave of Marai, near to which stood a

high perpendicular rock around which the youthful cow-herds of the

time used to play. They gathered there from different directions,

and passed the time merrily, practising archery and playing on their

flutes, while keeping an eye on their herds. The rock was too high

for them to attempt to climb it, and it was always spoken of as

"the rock on which the foot of man never trod."



On a certain day, when the lads came as usual to the familiar

rendezvous, they were surprised to see, sitting on the top of the

rock, a fair young girl watching them silently and wistfully. The

children, being superstitious, took fright at sight of her and ran

in terror to Mylliem, their village, leaving the cattle to shift

for themselves. When they told their news, the whole village was

roused and men quickly gathered to the public meeting-place to hold

a consultation. They decided to go and see for themselves if the

apparition seen by the children was a real live child, or if they

had been deluded by some spell or enchantment. Under the guidance of

the lads, they hurried to the place on the hill where the rock stood,

and there, as the boys had stated, sat a fair and beautiful child.



The clothes worn by the little girl were far richer than any worn

by their own women-folk, so they judged that she belonged to some

rich family, and she was altogether so lovely that the men gazed

open-mouthed at her, dazzled by her beauty. Their sense of chivalry

soon asserted itself, however, and they began to devise plans to

rescue the maiden from her perilous position. To climb up the face

of that steep rock was an impossible feat; so they called to her,

but she would not answer; they made signs for her to descend, but

she did not stir, and the men felt baffled and perplexed.



Chief among the rescuers was a man called U Mylliem Ngap, who was

remarkable for his sagacity and courage. When he saw that the child

refused to be coaxed, he attributed it to her fear to venture unaided

down that steep and slippery rock. So he sent some of his comrades

to the jungle to cut down some bamboos, which he joined together and

made into a pole long enough to reach the top of the rock. Then he

beckoned to the child to take hold of it, but she sat on unmoved.



By this time the day was beginning to wane, yet the child did not stir

and the rescuers were growing desperate. To leave her to her fate on

that impregnable rock would be little less than cold-blooded murder,

for nothing but death awaited her. They began to lament loudly, as

people lament when mourning for their dead, but the child sat on in

the same indifferent attitude.



Just then U Mylliem Ngap noticed a tuft of wild flowers growing near

the cave, and he quickly gathered a bunch and fastened it to the end

of the long pole and held it up to the maiden's view. The moment she

saw the flowers, she gave a cry of delight and held out her hand to

take them. U Mylliem Ngap promptly lowered the pole and the child

moved towards it, but before she could grasp the flowers the pole was

again lowered; so, little by little, step by step, as the men watched

with bated breath, the little maid reached the ground in safety.



U Mylliem Ngap, with general consent, constituted himself her

champion. He called her "Pah Syntiew," which means "Lured by Flowers,"

for her name and her origin were unknown. He took her to his own home

and adopted her as his own daughter, cherishing her with fondness

and affection, which the child fully requited.



Ka Pah Syntiew, as she grew up, fulfilled all the promises of her

childhood and developed into a woman of incomparable beauty and her

fame went abroad throughout the country. She was also gifted and wise

beyond all the maidens of the neighbourhood, and was the chosen leader

at all the Khasi dances and festivals. She taught the Khasi girls to

dance and to sing, and it was she who instituted the Virgins' Dance,

which remains popular to this day among the Khasis. Her foster-father,

seeing she possessed so much discretion and wisdom, used to consult her

in all his perplexities and seek her advice in all matters pertaining

to the ruling of the village. She displayed such tact and judgement

that people from other villages brought their disputes to her to be

settled, and she was acknowledged to be wiser and more just than

any ruler in the country, and they began to call her "Ka Siem"

(the Chiefess, or the Queen).



When she came of age, U Mylliem Ngap gave her in marriage to a man

of prowess and worth, who is mentioned in Khasi lore as "U Kongor

Nongjri." She became the mother of many sons and daughters, who were

all noble and comely.



After her children had grown up, Ka Pah Syntiew called them all to

her one day and revealed to them the secret of her birth. She was

the daughter of U 'Lei Shillong, the mountain god, permitted by her

father to dwell for a period among mankind, and at last the time was

at hand for her to return to her native element.



Not long after this Ka Pah Syntiew walked away in the direction of the

cave of Marai, and no one dared to accompany her, for it was realised

that her hour of departure had come. From that day she disappeared

from mortal ken. Her descendants are known to this day as two of the

leading families of Khasi chiefs, or Siems, and in common parlance

these two families, those of Khairim and Mylliem, are still called

"the Siems (the Chiefs) of Shillong," or "the Siems of the god."