According to historian Chang Pat Foh, the legends behind the stalactites and stalagmites lie in the story of a poor boy and his mother who lived at a big Bidayuh kampung known as Kampung Kapur located near Fairy Cave.
One day, a Gawai celebration was being held at one of the kampung houses.
Curious, the boy came and peeped in on their celebration, which made the homeowner unhappy. Rather than simply chase the boy away, the mean-spirited homeowner collected some sugarcane waste and gave it to him, telling him there was pork inside.
Happily, the boy went home and presented what he thought was a gift to share with his mother. When his mother found nothing but sugarcane waste instead, she was humiliated and so began plotting her revenge on the proud village folk.
She took a cat, put it in a beautiful dress and threw the cat into the middle of her neighbour’s Gawai celebration to the surprise of its attendees.
They began to laugh at the sight of a cat in a dress. Their laughter brought on a storm, and the sky roared with thunder and lightning. When the storm eventually stopped, all the villagers had turned into stone.
They are what make up the stalagmites and stalactites inside Fairy Cave.
Another version of the legend is that it was the boy who threw the cat in the middle of celebration and that the mother had instructed him to cover his head with a chicken basket so that the curse would not touch him.
Besides the Bidayuh community, the Chinese have also their own interest in the Fairy cave as the cave is believed to be home for Chinese gods and goddesses.
Some of the rock formations were even named after Chinese deities such as Kuan Yin, the goddess of Mercy.
Posts
