Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Story of Prince Sang Nila Utama
Sang Nila Utama was a prince of Palembang. He wanted to find a suitable place for a new city thus, he decided to visit the islands off the coast of Palembang South Sumatra. He set sail in a number of ships. He and his men reached the Riau Islands. A few days later, Sang Nila Utama went to a nearby island on a hunting trip. While hunting, he spotted a deer and started chasing it. He came to a very large rock and climbed on it. When he reached the top, he looked across the sea and saw another island with a sandy beach.
Asking one of his ministers what land it was, he was told that it was the island of Temasek. He decided to visit Temasek. However, when his ship was out into the sea, a great storm blew up and the ship was tossed about in the huge waves. The ship began to take in water.
To prevent it from sinking, his men threw all the heavy things into the sea to lighten the ship. However, water kept entering the ship and Sang Nila Utama, on the advice of a ship's officer, threw his heavy crown overboard. At once, the storm died down and he reached Temasek safely.
He asked his chief minister what animal it was and was told that it probably was a lion. However, recent studies of Singapore indicate that lions have never lived there, and the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama was likely a tiger, most likely the Malayan Tiger. He was pleased with this as he believed it to be a good omen - a sign of good fortune coming his way. Thus, he decided to build his new city in Temasek. He and his men stayed on the island and founded a city.
He named this city "Singapura". "Singa" means lion and "pura" means city in Malay.The name means the Lion City. Sang Nila Utama ruled Singapura for 48 years and was buried on Bukit Larangan. (present-day Fort Canning Hill)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sang_Nila_Utama
2:14 AM By random
