Legends Of The East

There was just an hour to go for 16-year-old beauty Aisha-bibi to meet with her lover. But a tragedy cut the girl’s life short … There are 28 variations of the legend of Aisha-Bibi. According to the most popular and saddest version, Aisha-Bibi was the daughter of well-known in 11th century scholar and poet Khakim-Ata Suleiman Bakyrgani. After her father’s death, Aisha was brought up by Sheikh Aikhodzha (Zangi-Ata). When the governor of Taraz Karakhan Mukhammed (for whom Karakhan Mausoleum in Taraz was built) asked for the young beauty’s hand, her stepfather rejected the suitor, because Karakhan was not a descendant of the prophet (sayyid), as Aisha was. She then outwitted her hard-hearted stepfather by pretending to lead an army for jihad against the idolaters (Kara-Khitans). Secretly however, she rode towards Taraz. Unfortunately, Karakhan never met his young bride; she died of snakebite at Asa River. Mourning the death of the girl, Karakhan erected the mausoleum of fairytale beauty at this place. A friend and fellow traveler of Aisha named Babadzhi-Khatun became the custodian of the grave. When she died, she was buried within 20 steps from Aisha, and a mausoleum was erected over her as well. Today nobody can say what color her eyes were, but we know she loved and was loved. All legends follow the same general plot: A girl disobeys her parents out of love for her a noble in Taraz and dies by entering a body of water near the city. The Legend empasizes the belief in Central Asia of obedience to elders as the highest value.

Source: Wikipedia

In Japan there was an old couple that wished for a child. They wished for a child of any kind, even if he was only an inch tall. And their wish was granted. They got a child and sure enough he grew no taller than one inch. They named him Issun-Boshi which meant One Inch Boy. One day Issun-Boshi decided he wanted to see the world. His parents wanted Issun-Boshi to have a fun life so they gave him a bowl, chopsticks and a needle he could use as a sword and waved goodbye. When Issun-Boshi came to the city, he was taken into care of a nobleman and was a servant for the princess. Issun-Boshi and the princes became good friends. One day on their way back from a nearby temple, they were stopped by a large green demon called an oni. The princess thought she was doomed for surely she could not be saved by a one inch boy. But the one inch boy acted quickly. He climbed the oni quickly and poked it in the tongue with his sword. Issun-Boshi jumped from the demon’s mouth just before it turned and ran. The princess was saved! Then she made a wish. “I wish for Issun-Boshi to grow tall.” The princess squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again. But the boy was still one inch tall. Then slowly, inch by inch, Issun- Bosh grew taller until he was the size of a full grown man. Issun-Boshi and the princess were married and they lived together happily for the rest of their lives,each over five feet tall.

Source: Japanese Legends

A dragon emerged from the Ortanca Fountain on the slopes of Mount Albat. It refused to allow anyone near the fountain, and people went thirsty.

Seeing the people’s despair, the lord of the city took two sharp-bladed swords and went to slay the dragon. The lord held the swords out in his two hands. The dragon breathed flames from its nose, and breathing in deeply, it swallowed the lord. The lord then slew the dragon with the two swords he held, cutting it in two from its mouth to its tail.

When the lord returned home, he had the pool in his garden filled with milk, undressed and jumped in. The milk immediately curdled because of the dragon’s poison. The lord kept having milk baths until it no longer curdled, and thus freed himself of the poison.

Source : Turkey Culture

The best known legend of Langkawi is of Mahsuri, a pretty maiden who lived some 200 years ago. She died under tragic circumstances for a crime she did not commit. She died a victim of a conspiracy plotted against her out of jealousy for her magnetic personality. She was accused of committing adultery and was sentenced to death by the Chief of Langkawi, Dato Karma Jaya, her own father-in-law. As the legend goes, Mahsuri was the object of envy, of the village headman's wife Wan Mahora. She accused Mahsuri of adultery with a handsome minstrel visiting the island while Mahsuri's husband, Wan Darus, was away.

As proof of her innocence, some people say, white blood was seen gushing out of her wound during execution. Others maintain there was the sudden appearance of white mist that enveloped the spot where she was executed, which it was believed was a sign of mourning of her innocence.

Mahsuri is best remembered for her curse on Langkawi which was uttered before she died. She had said, "For this act of injustice Langkawi shall not prosper for seven generations to come."

Decades after Mahsuri's death, Langkawi experienced a period of tribulation with her population dwindling in size. The island became a desolate place, beset by series of misfortunes. It was not able to regain its splendour for a long period of time.

The curse, believed to have brought destruction and doom to the island and was to last for seven generations, lifted only after the birth of Wan Aishah.

Source: BayView Hotel Langkawi

Around the 8th century AD, after the fall of the Sassanian empire, large numbers of Persians fled by ship to the western coast of the Indian subcontinent (now Gujarat) to maintain their Zoroastrian religious tradition. According to an old Parsi legend, the Raja of Sanjan had given them a cup full to the rim of milk, symbolically stating that the kingdom was already full of people and could not take any refugees. The asylum seekers sweetened the milk with sugar and gave it back to the king, symbolically stating that they would be of immeasurable service to the kingdom and become exemplary subjects of the Raja. The Raja allowed them to stay, on condition that they remained endogamous and adopted the local culture, in addition to preserving their religion, as well as forbidding them from proselytizing. This was probably in conformance with caste laws of the time. To this day, the Parsis remain generally endogamous and do not accept converts.

Source : Wikipedia

Welcome to Gwalior … A modern and vibrant city, resplendent in its ancient glory and splendor. The city is named after Gwalipa, the saint who treated the king Suraj Sen, from chronic illness with the water of Suraj Kund, and the pond, which still can be seen within the Gwalior fort. The legend goes that Suraj Sen, the Rajput chieftain who was hunting in the hills and forests around Gwalior was hopelessly lost and terribly thirsty. Suraj Sen came across the sage Gwalipa who directed him to a pool, which would quench his parched throat. After drinking the cool, healing waters of this ‘kund’, Suraj Sen was cured of long time ailment leprosy. In utter gratitude, according to Gwalipa’s wishes, he built a tank and a fort on the site and named the city after this great sage.

Source: LNIPE 

Tibet’s eleventh century poet-saint, Milarepa, traveled throughout what is now Tibet’s Qomolangma Nature Preserve, meditating in small caves and remote villages. Milarepa decided to leave the village where he had been staying, to escape its worldly distractions, return to the “Great Cave of Conquering Demons,” and regain the solitude to pursue his devotions. But winter was coming and the villagers begged him to stay – for his benefit as well as theirs. “You can conquer evil demons any time,” they said. “Stay with us until the spring.” But he went, promising to provide instruction to anyone who ventured up the mountain. It snowed that winter for eighteen continuous days and nights, cutting off the trail to the cave for six months. Milarepa’s disciples, assuming him dead, performed the appropriate sacramental feast and other rituals, and when the mountain cleared in spring they went in search of his body.

“Just short of their destination, they sat down to take a long rest. In the distance they saw a snow leopard yawning and stretching as it climbed up on a big rock. They watched it for a long while, until it finally disappeared. They were quite sure they would not find Milarepa’s corpse, as they firmly believed the snow leopard had killed him and eaten his body… Then they noticed many human footprints beside the leopard’s tracks… They thought, “Could this be a conjuration of a Deva or ghost?” In bewilderment, they approached the Cave of Conquering Demons, and hearing Milarepa singing, they asked themselves, “Is it possible that passing hunters have offered food to him, or that he has acquired some left-over prey, so that he did not die?”

Milarepa is said to have meditated in this house,
and some believe that the Great Cave of Conquering Demons
lies in the mountains above the village.

At the cave, Milarepa chided them: “You laggards, you reached the other side of the mountain quite a while ago. Why did it take you so long to get here?”

In answer to their questions, and how he knew that they were coming, Milarepa replied, “When I was sitting on the rock, I saw you all resting on the other side of the pass.”

“We saw a leopard sitting there,” they said, “but we did not see you.

“I was the leopard,” he replied.

Milarepa could transform himself into any form he wished, and so did not need food. However, in a vision he had seen the villagers bringing him a meal so big that he’d felt full for days. The disciples counted back and found that it had been the date they had held the sacramental feast.

Source : Snow leopard Conservancy

Most people interested in fairies must have heard about Lake Baikal situated in Russia - an area commonly known as the Paristan. During my Russian language studies in the National University of Modern Languages Islamabad, our great Russian teacher, who knew about how Paristan (fairy land) is famous in our local literature, used to tell us tales of fairies famous in Russia. She told us about Baikal Lake. “Baikal is one of the most beautiful and fourth highest lake in the world. The panorama is such that fairies come and dance there and meet those who visit Baikal.” She also told about the fairy of love and taught the language in the process.

But what is the most distinct feature of Baikal? It is a fairies land full of romantic legend. I have heard many stories and one that particularly touched me. Local lore has it that there was a fairy of love. Her job was to distribute love among those who needed that in life. (Who does not need it?) She wanted love to prevail the world over. She also protected Baikal’s natural surroundings and used to be on the shores of Baikal every night.

One night she met a man who just appeared on the shore of Baikal out of the blue. The man’s name too was Baikal: mortal, deprived, lonely, and it looked from his face that he needed some love in life. The fairy saw him and fell head over heals, taking it as a test case. Led over the waves of sympathy and challenge, they instantly crossed all the distances usually not possible in a short time. They together wove hopes for the future.

But their love came to a tragic end. Baikal thought he was no match to the fairy. He was afraid of himself being human. And one day, he disappeared all of a sudden without any explanation, without warning. The fairy kept looking for him, found him and cut off his feet, making him unable to move. Who will decide about this love affair?

 Source: BootsnAll