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One of the fragment of this relic stone is kept in Singapore
History Museum.
The Greatest Historical Mystery of
Singapore
(Source: Myths and Facts of Singapore)
A much weathered monolith with chiselled inscriptions were found
at the mouth of the Singapore River in 1823. Some people
speculated that it was Sang Ranjuna Tapa who had turned into a
rock in retribution for inviting the Majapahit invaders in during
the reign of Iskandar Shah. Others suggested that it was the
monument erected by the Rajah of Kling in memory of Badang who had
beaten his champion by hurling a stone into the Singapore River
during Sri Wikera's reign.
Attempts at deciphering the script using soft dough, lard, white
lead and even powdered charcoal proved futile. Raffles himself
failed in his attempt with strong acids.
In 1843, Captain Stevenson, the British Acting Settlement Engineer
ordered the rock to be blown up to broaden the river mouth. One
sizeable chunk was used, for many years, as a seat by the Sepoy
guards at the Treasury. Only one fragment remains in the National
Museum.
Urban legend said that if all the pieces of this rock were
assembled, the spirits of the ancient kings would return to Bukit
Larangan, the site of their former palace. Is this a fact or
fiction? SPI investigates.
The Shape of the Singapore Stone as Mentioned in Historical
Accounts
(Source: A History of Singapore, Ernest C.T. Chew and Edwin Lee,
Oxford University Press)
John Crawfurd, three years after the founding of Singapore, who
later became Resident of Singapore, wrote a detailed description
of the remains of the earlier Malay settlement. One of his most
important memorable journals that contain pieces of historical
evidences mentions about the Singapore Stone:
On the stony point which forms the
western side of the entrance of the salt creek, on which the
modern town of Singapore is building, there was discovered, two
years ago, a tolerably hard block of sand-stone, with an
inscription upon it. This I examined early this morning. The
stone, in shape, is a rude mass, and formed of the one-half of a
great nodule broken into two nearly equal parts by artificial
means; for the two portions now face each other, separated at the
base by a distance of not more than two feet and a half, and
reclining opposite to each other at an angle of about 40 degrees.
It is upon the inner surface of the stone that the inscription is
engraved. The workmanship is far ruder than any thing of the kind
that I have seen in Java or India; and the writing, perhaps from
time, in some degree, but more from the natural decomposition of
the rock, so much obliterated as to be quite illegible as a
composition. Here and there, however, a few letters seem distinct
enough. The character is rather round than square.
So based on this historical account,
the original Singapore Stone was not a one-sided square monument
as most people thought nowadays. It was mentioned that the stone
was artificially split into two halves. Only one side has
inscription. Based on the primitive technology the ancient local
people had, how would they cut the stone into two halves leaving
smooth surfaces? And most intriguingly, what was written on the
stone? Here is John Crawfurd's guess work:
This stone at the mouth of the
Singapore River, about 10 feet high and 10 feet wide, defied
attempts at deciphering the script engraved on it. It has been
guessed that the text was in the Majapahit script, commemorating
the capture and sack of Temasek at the close of the fourteenth
century. By the time the British arrived and took an interest in
it, the stone had already been badly eroded by the tidal waters.
As part of a construction project, it was blown up in 1843. Three
pieces survived. Two were taken to the Calcutta Museum, while the
third was placed in the Raffles Museum, subsequently the National
Museum of Singapore, where it is referred to as the ¡¥Singapore
Stone¡¦. Another fragment is said to have been used for a time as a
seat for messengers and passers-by outside the old Singapore court
house.
So where did the Singapore Stone come
from? Were there other similar ones? The answer is positive.
1. The dimension of the replica stone is made to be 10 feet x 100
feet according to historical account;
SPI Sunkist is standing there as a reference to show how large the
Singapore stone is
2. From this angle you can see its thickness; 3. This is a piece
of the remaining fragment of the Singapore Stone.
The marker line in the centre probably looks more like used in
archaeology study than natural.
Singapore Stone Has Two Other Twin Sisters?
In the Hikayat Abdulla it says: - ¡§Mr. Raffles and Mr. Farquhar
consulted together about the town, and Mr. Farquhar thought the
mercantile buildings and markets ought to be on the Kampong Glam
side, while Mr. Raffles thought they ought to be on the other side
of the river.
Mr Farquhar said that on that side the traders would meet many
difficulties, as the place was a low swamp, with bad water, and
the expense of raising the levels of ground would be very great,
besides the difficulty of getting earth for filling up.
Mr. Raffles said that if the Kampong Glam side was chosen, the
other side of the river would be deserted, and would not be
settled for a hundred years. They were both full of projects and
ideas on the subject, until three days after, when it struck Mr.
Raffles that he could break up the hill at the end of Singapore
point and fill up that side of the river (Boat Quay and up to the
Police Court) with the material.
The next day they met and made arrangements, and sent for coolies,
Chinese, Malays and Klings, were employed at the rate of one rupee
a day each man, chunkolling and carrying earth. Some were breaking
up the rocks, of which there were very many in the hill. Mr.
Raffles came twice a day to give directions about the work. After
about three or four months the hills were completely cut down, and
all the hollows and streams and drains and valleys filled up.
There only remained one rock about the height of an elephant
but a great deal larger. The Chinese removed this for nothing, on
getting the stone for their trouble.
The rise in Battery Road and the other streets leading up to the
Square show where the hill was, and until late years there was
another large round boulder, probably part of the large rock
Abdulla speaks of, which kept cropping up through the road metal
in Battery Road, very awkward for horses, which only disappeared
when the road was widened and raised.
Abdulla then tells us:- ¡§After the low marshy land (Boat Quay,
Circular Road, etc.) was filled up, raised and embanked, it was
measured out into lots and sold by auction. If any one wishes to
know the locality of the hill, which was thus removed by Mr.
Raffles, to fill up the ground on this side of the river, it was
at the end of Singapore point, at the place now called Boat Street
(Boat Quay). It was at first made into a garden, and all manner of
flowers and trees planted.
Then Abdulla tells us of the rock at the mouth of the river,
(so all together there were three such huge rocks in Singapura)
about which much has been said by all the writers about Singapore.
The following is Abdulla¡¦s account of the discovery of it.
1. Model of a British ship in the 18th century; 2. Model that
shows Sir Raffles Stamford arrived Singapura
How The Singapore Stone was First Discovered?
¡§At the end of the point there was another rock found among the
brushwood; it was smooth, of square form, covered with a chiseled
inscription which no one could read, as it had been worn away by
water for how many thousands of years who can tell. As soon as it
was discovered people of all races crowded round it. The Hindoos
said it was Hindoo writing, the Chinese that it was Chiness.
I went among others with Mr. Raffles and the Rev. Mr. Thompson. I
thought from the appearance of the raised parts of the letters
that it was Arabic, but I could not read it, as the stone had been
subject to the rising and falling tides for such a long time. Many
clever people came, bringing flour and lard, which they put in the
hollows and then lifted out in the hope of getting the shape of
the letters. Some again brought a black fluid which they poured
over the stone but without success.
Ingenuity was exhausted in trying to decipher the inscription. The
stone remained there till lately. Mr. Raffles said the inscription
was Hindoo, because the Hindoo race was the earliest that came to
the Archipelago, first to Java and then to Bali and Siam, the
inhabitants of which places are all descended from the Hindoos.
But not a soul in Singapore could say what the inscription was.
During the time Mr. Bonham was Governor of the three settlements
this stone was broken up by the Engineer. This is very much to be
regretted, and was in my opinion highly improper; perhaps the
gentleman did it from ignorance or stupidity, and now, from his
conduct, we can never know the nature of this ancient writing. Did
he not think that persons sufficiently clever might come and
disclose the secret so long concealed? I have heard that in
England there are persons very clever in deciphering such
inscriptions with the aid of all manner of curious devices. Well
may the Malays say ¡¥What you can¡¦t make, don¡¦t break.¡¦
From what has been written since on the subject it is clear that
Abdulla was pretty correct in his facts and his deductions; and it
is an example of the general correctness of his recollections of
what he himself saw. The next extract is from Lieut. Begbie¡¦s book
:- ¡§The principal curiosity of Singapore is a large stone at the
point of the river, the one face of which has been sloped and
smoothed, and upon which several lines of engraved characters are
still visible. The rock being, however, of a schistose and porous
nature, the inscription is illegible.
It is said that Sir Stamford Raffles endeavoured, by the
application of powerful acids, to bring out the characters with
the view of deciphering them, but the result was unsuccessful.
Where such an eminent person has failed, it may be thought
presumptuous in me to hazard a conjecture on the subject of the
language in which the inscription was penned, but I may perhaps be
permitted to make an attempt to throw some light upon a subject so
confessedly obscure.
The blue arrow shows where the Singapore Stone was at the mouth of
the Singapore River
Three Theories of Singapore Stones from Malayan Annals
Resorting to the Malayan Annals, which, clouded as they
undoubtedly are by fable and allegory, yet contain many a valuable
piece of information, we find therein mention made of three
remarkable stones at Singhapura. The first that I shall mention is
that recorded at page 82 of Leyden¡¦s Malay Annals, in which the
translator, following his author, tells us this:
Theory #1 The Stone is changed from a supernatural man
¡§There was a man of Pasei, named Tun Jana Khateb. One day Tun Jana
Khateb was walking in the market place of Singhapura, and drew
near to the palace of the Rajah, where one of the Raja¡¦s women
observed him. He was looking at a betel tree, when it suddenly
broke. This was observed by the Rajah, who was enraged at it,
conceiving it to have been done solely for the purpose of
attracting the lady¡¦s attention, and displaying his skill. He
accordingly ordered him to be put to death. The executioners
seized him, and carried him to the place of execution and stabbed
him near the house of a seller of sweetmeats. His blood flowed on
the ground, but his body vanished from their ken, and his blood
was covered up by the sweetmeat seller, and was changed into stone
and still remains at Singhapura.
Theory #2 The Stone is changed from a couple
¡§The second instance that I shall adduce is also recorded by the
same author, who informs us that, during the reign of Rajah
Secander Shah, the Javanese conquered Singhapura, principally by
means of the treachery of Sang Ranjuna Tapa, who invited the enemy
to the conquest in revenge for the Rajah having directed Tapa¡¦s
daughter, who was one of the royal wives, to be impaled on
suspicion of infidelity. As a judgment on his perfidy the
historian says that ¡¥By the power of God Almighty, the house of
Sang Ranjuna Tapa faded, and its pillars were overturned, and rice
ceased to be planted in the land, and Sang Ranjuna Tapa, both
husband and wife, were changed into stone, and those are the two
stones which appear beside the moat of Singhapura.
Theory #1 Badang the strongman hurled the stone to its
location
¡§The third, though first in order of record, I have reserved for
the last because I am inclined to think that the evidence is fully
presumptive in favour of its being the stone now visible at
Singapore; it is to be met with at pages 62 and 63 of the Annals.
The preceding pages inform us that in the reign of Sir Raja
Vicrama, there was a redoubtable champion of the name of Badang.
Several remarkable feats of strength are recorded of him, but I
will merely select the one in point. The fame of Badang having
reached the land of Kling (Coromandel) the Rajah of that country
dispatched a champion, named Nadi Vijaya Vicrama, to try his
strength with him, staking seven ships filled with treasures on
the issue of the contest. After a few trials of their relative
powers, Badang pointed to a huge stone lying before the Rajah¡¦s
hall, and asked his opponent to lift it, and to allow their claims
to be decided by the greatest strength displayed in this feat.
(For this point here it matches the other
historical account where the slope near Bukit Larangan indeed had
similar huge boulders)
The Kling champion assented, and, after several failures,
succeeded in raising it as high as his knee, after which he
immediately let it fall. The story then says that Badang, having
taken up the stone, poised it easily several times, and then threw
it out into the mouth of the river, and this is the rock which is
at this day visible at the point of Singhapura, or Tanjong
Singhapura.
After some other recitals, the Annals state that ¡¥after a long
time, Badang also died, and was buried at the point of the straits
of Singhapura; and, when the tidings of his death reached the land
of Kling, the Rajah sent two stone pillars, to be raised over his
grave as a monument, and these are the pillars which are still at
the point of the Bay.¡¦
¡§Now, the first two instances are totally destitute of presumptive
evidence; this last is, on the contrary, full of it. At the mouth
of the river there is a large rock, which is concealed at high
water, and on which a post was erected four or five years ago by,
I believe, Captain Jackson of the Bengal Artillery, to warn boats
of the danger; this is the rock fabled to have been hurled by
Badang: He is said to have been buried at the point of the straits
of Singhapura, the scene of this wonderful exploit; and there, the
very spot where this record is to be still seen, the Rajag of
Kling, who had been so serious a loser by it, ordered this
monument to be erected. Fabulous and childish as the legend is, it
brings us directly to the point. Sri Rajah Vicrama, called by
Crawfurd (Indian Archipelago, Vol.2, p. 482) Sri Rama Wikaram,
reigned in the year of the Hegira 620, or A.D. 1223, and was
succeeded in Heg. 634, or A.D. 1236 by Sri Maharaja. The Annals
state, after recording the death of Badang, that this king reigned
a long time; consequently the occurrence must be placed early in
his reign. The annals were written in the year of the Hegira 1021,
or A.D. 1612, nearly four centuries by legendary traditions; but I
think that we are fairly warranted in concluding that there was a
remarkable wrestler of the name of Bandang existing at that
period, and that this inscription contained a recital of his
feats, etc.
This is one of the most complete diagrams that shows all the words
on the remaining fragments of Singapore Stone
The Ultimate Riddle of the Singapore Stone - What is written on
it?
¡§This supposition naturally leads me to enquire what is the
language in which these actions, recorded about A.D. 1228, could
have been written. At the period of the transaction, the Malays
were destitute of a written language, as it was not until between
forty and fifty years afterwards, when the Mahommedan religion
became the popular one, that the Arabic character was introduced.
It appears to be probable that the Kling Rajah, aware of this
destitution of a written character, employed a sculptor of his own
nation to cut the inscription on the rock, and that, from the
epitaph being in an unknown language, the original story as
therein related, being necessarily handed down by oral tradition,
became corrupted in every thing but its leading features.
this supposition is borne out by the form of the characters, which
more resembles that of the Malabar language than any other
oriental tongue that I am acquainted with. I do not mean to say
that the words are essentially Tamil, but merely to express an
opinion that the inscription is couched in an obsolete dialect of
that language.
Language, as a nation progresses to civilization, sustains serious
alterations, which, barely noticed at the time, or viewed as
merely slight and necessary changes in order to meet the influx of
new ideas and new wants, nevertheless, in the lapse of years,
almost substitute a different dialect to that originally used by
the community.
The Tamil of A.D. 1228 may be easily concealed to be an obsolete
tongue in A.D. 1830, although we are unable to trace the
successive changes which it may have sustained in the revolution
of six centuries.
As a proof of this assertion I have merely to mention that the
earliest Dutch Records at Malacca, which could not have been
written before A.A. 1596, when the Dutch arrived in Java under
Hautman, are now unintelligible, even to the best informed of the
residents of that nation. Thus, in the course of less than two
centuries and a half, a European language has been lost, much more
guarded by adventitious circumstances against corruption than any
native tongue could possibly be, in countries where the constant
intercourse and the similarity of dialect would naturally lead to
a fusion of Asiatic languages.¡¨
A typical photo of Singapore
Stone as found in many history books
When the above passages appeared in the original of these papers,
Mr. W. E. Maxwell wrote as follows regarding them in the Free
Press of 15th November, 1884 : -
¡§If you have access to a complete set
of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which I have not,
you will find some information about the inscription which was
formerly to be read on the rock at the mouth of the Singapore
river, and about a similar inscription in Province Wellesley. Some
of the fragments of the Singapore rock were, I think, sent to the
Asiatic Society¡¦s Musemum at Calcutta. See Journal, Asiatic
Society Bengal, VI., 680; XVII., Part I., 154 and 232; Id., Part
II., 62, 66.
Lastly, as to the legends which connect the strong man Badang with
Singapore and Johore. These are, I fancy, only a localized version
of a popular legend which may be found in many Malay countries. I
have heard the story of how Badang obtained his strength, told,
mutatis mutandis, of a Perak hero, Toh Kwala Bidor. There are
points of resemblance between the Malay Hercules and the
Scandinavian Odin.¡¨
Sir William Maxwell afterwards
collected all the papers he refers to from the Journal of the
Society, and published them in 1886 in the first volume of
Miscellaneous papers in Tribner¡¦s Oriental Series, which were
issued in two volumes by the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic
Society. From these papers which are of considerable length and
contain two curious pictures of the inscription on the rock, the
following remarks are taken :-
Dr. Montgomerie said that the rock
was brought to light by some Bengal sailors employed by Captain
Flint, R.N., the first Master Attendant. The men were much
frightened on seeing the inscription and could not be induced to
go on with the clearing, which had to be completed by Chinese. Dr.
Montgomerie added that it was a pity that those who afterwards
authorized the destruction of the ancient relic were not
themselves prevented by some such wholesome superstition.
There is also a paper written by Mr. James Prinsep, a famous
antiquarian of Calcutta; who said that several enquires had been
made about the inscription, and that he had made numerous attempts
to procure a copy from some of the visitors to Singapore either
for amusement or for their health. This paper was published in
1837, and says that Dr. William Bland of H.M.S. Wolf had at last
made a facsimile of all that remained in any way perceptible on
the rocky fragment.
It was a rock, Dr. Bland wrote, of coarse red sandstone about ten
feet high, two to five feet thick and nine or ten feet in length.
The surface was an irregular square, with a space of about
thirty-two square feet with a raised edge all round. There had
been about fifty lines of inscription, the greater part illegible.
He says he made frequent pilgrimages to the rock, and describes
how he made as accurate a copy as possible of the marks on the
stone. Eleven years afterwards there is another paper, which says
that Dr. Montgomerie having mentioned that the rock had been
blasted, application was made from Bengal to the Governor to send
any legible fragments that might still exist, and he replied: ¡§The
only remaining portion of the stone you mention, except what
Colonel Low may have, I have found lying in the verandah of the
Treasury at Singapore, where it was used as a seat by the Sepoy
guard and persons waiting to transact business.
I lost no time in sending it to my house, but alas, not before the
inscription was nearly erased. Such as the fragment was then
however it is now, for I have preserved the stone with much care,
and shall have pleasure in sending it for your museum, having
failed to establish one, as I hoped to have done, in Singapore.¡¨
Governor Butterworth having sent the
seat of the Sepoy guard to Calcultta, a Mr. J. W. Laidlaw writes a
paper about it, and also about three other pieces sent by Colonel
Low, and he explains what he did to try to make the characters
legible enough to be copied.
This is a 3 dimensional replica that shows the inscription on the
three fragments of the Singapore Stone
Methods Used to Decipher the Inscription
It shows from the various accounts that Abdulla¡¦s quaint
description of the various ¡§curious devices¡¨ was correct. Some
tried with ¡§well made and soft dough¡¨; and by observing the
shadows thrown into the letter when ¡§the sun was descending into
the west¡¨; others by painting the stone exactly over with white
lead; others by strewing over the stone finely powdered charcoal
(animal being better than vegetable as being specifically
heavier!) and then sweeping it gently to and fro with a feather.
Raffles had tried acid, but this, one remarked, was quite useless,
as it could have no effect on such stone. As one reads all this,
one cannot help remembering the famous antiquity which Mr.
Pickwick discovered at Cobham.
Colonel Low wrote that he was unwilling and pained witness of the
demolition of that memorial of long past ages, his petition to
have it spared being met by the reply that it was in the way of
some projected Bungalow. On the explosion taking place he had
crossed the river from his office, and selected such fragments as
had letters on them.
Some Fragments Were Spared But Originally Not in the Slab
Shapes
The Governor, Mr. Bonham, sent to ask him to preserve a piece for
him, and this was the portion sent by Colonel Butterworth to
Calcutta. As the fragments were very bulky, Low had them, at
considerable cost, gradually chiseled by Chinese into the shape of
slabs, which were still ponderous. He presented them to the
Society in Bengal.
It seems to him that the inscription might probably date from an
early century of the Christian era. He had consulted Buddhist
priests without success, as he found he knew as much as they did,
being, as he says, a sadly ignorant set.
There are drawings of the inscriptions on the three pieces of
stone sent to Calcutta by him, and the conclusion in Bengal was a
conjecture that the inscription was a record of some Javanese
triumph at a period anterior to the conversion of the Malays to
Mohammedanism.
Besides the Three Fragment, the Last Piece was Vandalized
Mr. W. H. Read writes: ¡§I remember a large block of the rock at
the corner of Government House, where Fort Canning is now; but
during the absence of the Governor at Penang on one occasion the
convicts requiring stone to replace the road, chipped up the
valuable relic of antiquity, and thus all trace of our past
history was lost.
It was destroyed when the sea-wall was built around Fort
Fullerton, where the Club, Post Office, and Master Attendant¡¦s
Office now are. It used to be decorated with flags and offerings
when at the entrance of the Singapore river. The immediate
consequence of the removal of the stone, an act of vandalism, was
the silting up of the river. I have been told that an inscription
in similar characters, which I always understood were ¡§cuneiform,¡¨
still exists (1884) in the Carimon Islands.¡¨
If the story of Mr. Badang is true, we see there were sports on
the Esplanade about six hundred and fifty years ago, which is the
time when Badang is said to have lived.
1. The blue arrow shows the location of the Singapore Stone, also
the same spot for the old Merlion before it was moved to Merlion
Park
2. A close up of the location;
3. This is a typical epitome of History vs Modern progress, traces
of ancient culture were replaced by skyscrapers
4. Can you imagine this could be one of the areas where the
legendary Badang used to have lived?
The Fable of Badang - the Strongman of Singapura
(Source: Legendary Tales of Singapore)
Once upon a time in the 13th century or earlier, there lived a
young slave named Badang in the town of Sayong, beyong the island
of Singapura. Badang was a honest and hard-working man although he
was poor. Come rain or shine, he would be in the forest every day
chopping down trees for his master. Unfortunately, he was not
strong, and he got tired very easily. As a result, every evening,
he was often frustrated at how little work he had done.
Badang decided that the only way to do a better job was to get
stronger. So he put a trap in Besisek River in the morning hoping
to get some nutritious supplement for his meal. He had hoped that
he would have fish for dinner. After work, when he got to the
river, he discovered a gaping hole in the trap. And it was empty!
Frustrated Badang was, he vowed to confront the thief so to put an
end to the stealing. Hastily, he repaired the trap and put it back
into the river.
Instead of going home, Badang hid behind some bushes and waited
for the thief to appear. Suddenly, he saw a gigantic demon
approaching the fish trap. Badang was afraid of it as first.
However as the creature proceeded to gorge himself on the fish,
the young man became very angry. Out of a sudden, he jumped out of
the bushes and grabbed the demon's beard.
Despite its fearsome appearance, the creature turned out to be
timid and weak. Even Badang was stronger than it. The demon was
begging, "Please don't kill me, human. If you let me go, I can
help you achieve your heart's desire, be it wealth, invisibility
or strength!" Badang was tempted and agreed to the offer as
strength to him was something useful.
They went back to the shore. On the dry land, the creature
took a big banana leaf and cradled it in his hands. Then, he threw
up on it. He told to Badang, "What you most desire shall be yours
only if you consume all that I have vomited. You shall have the
strength of 10,000 elephants". Without letting his thoughts stray
away, Badang shoved everything into his mouth regardless what
taste it was. Somehow, he managed to swallow it all. He then
turned around just in time to see the demon vanish.
The next morning, Badang awoke at the crack of dawn. He was eager
to find out his new gained power. Trees could be easily lifted up
by him like feathers!
Soon, word of Badang's amazing strength reached the ears of Sri
Rana Wkerma, who was the Raja of Singapoura at that time. Sri Rana
Wkierma was keen to invite to prove his strength. And Badang did
so. Once, the King had ordered the construction of a ship that was
so large that all the king's guards were unable to push it to the
river. Badang carried it all the way to the river by only himself.
As time passed, Badang was able to do a lot of good for the people
of Singapura. His reputation and popularity among the people grew.
Sometimes when their horse was sick, he would help the farmers
carry their wares or harvest to the market.
Meanwhile, in Kalinga, there lived a warrior. There were those who
believed that his strength was greater than that of all his
countrymen combined. The king of Kalinga ordered the warrior to go
to Singapura and challenge this alleged Strongman of Singapura.
The next day, the formal challenge began. First, the two men were
tested on strength by pulling an elephant. Both were found to be
equally matched. Then they were tested on their speed of chopping
down trees. Again, neither man was better than the other. Finally,
when both men were found to be equally matched in all aspects, the
Kalinga warrior walked to a giant rock that was in front of the
audience hall. He suggested that whoever managed to lift it the
highest would be declared the winner.
As a gesture of courtesy, Badang let the Kalinga Warrior go first.
The warrior could only lift it up to his knees. Then it was
Badang's turn. The rock was heavier than anything Badang had ever
tried to lift! Slowly it started to move. Everyone in the crowd
gasped in surprise. The Kalinga Warrior was amazed, ... just as
was Raja Rana Wikerma. Badang had proven his prowess by lifting up
the huge rock over his head. He hurled the rock out of the palace
grounds, all the way to the bank of Kuala Temasek, 500 metres
away. This is where the old Merlion statue was located.
Everyone cheered for Badang. Even the Kalinga Warrior admitted
Badang for his great strength.
Years later, when Badang passed away at Buru, the Raja of Kalinga
sent a stone for his grave, in commemoration of this extraordinary
man. After Sri Rana Wikerma ruled for 13 years, he passed away and
was succeeded by his son, Paduka Sri Maharaja.
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Answering
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