The Goddesses Ka Ngot And Ka Iam
: Folk-tales Of The Khasis(A LEGEND OF SHILLONG PEAK)
Ka Iam and Ka Ngot, the twin daughters of the god of Shillong, were
two very beautiful beings; they were lively and frolicsome, and were
indulged and given much freedom by the family. Like all twins they
were never happy if long separated. One day the two climbed to the
top of the Shillong mountain to survey the country. In the distance
they saw the woody plains o
one another to run a race to see who would reach the plains first.
Ka Ngot was more retiring and timid than her sister, and was half
afraid to begin the race; Ka Iam, on the other hand, was venturesome
and fearless, and had been called Ka Iam because of her noisy and
turbulent disposition. Before the race she spoke very confidently of
her own victory, and teased her sister on account of her timidity.
After a little preparation for the journey the twins transformed
themselves into two rivers and started to run their race. Ka Ngot,
searching for smooth and easy places, meandered slowly, taking long
circuits, and came in time to Sylhet; but not finding her sister there,
she went forward to Chhatak, and on slowly towards Dewara. Seeing
no sign yet of her sister, she became very anxious and turned back
to seek her; and, in turning, she took a long curve which looked in
the brilliant sunshine like a curved silver chain, and the Khasis
living on the hill-tops, when they saw it, exclaimed with wonder:
"Rupatylli, Rupatylli!" (A silver necklace, a silver necklace!) and
to this day that part of the river is known as "Rupatylli."
Ka Iam, full of vigour and ambition, did not linger to look for easy
passages, but with a noisy rush she plunged straight in the direction
of Shella, the shortest cut she could find. She soon found, however,
that the road she had chosen was far more difficult to travel than
she had anticipated. Large rocks impeded her path at many points,
and she was obliged to spend much time in boring her way through; but
she pitted her young strength against all obstacles, and in time she
reached Shella and came in view of the plains, where, to her chagrin,
she saw that her sister had reached the goal before her, and was coming
back leisurely to meet her. It was a great humiliation, for she had
boasted of her victory before the race began, but, hoping to conceal
her defeat from the world, she divided herself into five streams,
and in that way entered the plains, and joined her sister. The rivers
are called after the two goddesses to this day, and are known as
"Ka Um Ngot" and "Ka Um Iam" (the river Ngot and the river Iam).
Ever since Ka Ngot won the great race she has been recognised as the
greater of the two twins, and more reverence has been paid to her as
a goddess. Even in the present day there are many Khasis and Syntengs
who will not venture to cross the "Um Ngot" without first sacrificing
to the goddess; and when, on their journeys, they happen to catch a
glimpse of its waters, they salute and give a greeting of "Khublei"
to the goddess Ka Ngot who won the great race.
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