4.2 Mawpun-ka-Rytiang (Mawpunkyrtiang)

4.2        

Mawpun-ka-Rytiang

(Mawpunkyrtiang)[48]

From Therria Ghat, Scott’s Road led to a curious small village called Mawpunkyrtiang, close to Cherra punji. The tale about the Siem of Malyniang is the pride of the Maskut people, for in olden days their King, i.e. the Siem of Malyniang, was supposed to have been a very powerful monarch amongst the Khasis: 

“There was in olden days a woman called Ka Rytiang of the Siem clan. Whilst she was still a spinster, she used to go to catch fish in a stream over which there is to the present day a bridge made of a single stone, called Mawpun ka Rytiang. Whilst she was catching fish in the midst of the stream a fit of drowsiness overtook her. At that very moment there approached her a very handsome young man, who thus addressed her; "Take this drumful of money; do not marry, and thou shalt nevertheless bear children.  

Thou must throw a bridge built of a single stone across this stream, thou must build thy house entirely of stone, the beams must be all of stone. Thou must spend all the money I have given thee, and if it does not suffice for thy expenditure, I shall bring more. Thou wilt remember all that I say?" She replied "yes." As soon as he had finished speaking to her, she awoke from her fit of drowsiness, and found herself holding a drumful of money. On her way home she pondered over what he had said to her, and her heart was full of joy that she had met a god who had given her so much money, and who had spoken such words to her.  

She then constructed a bridge called Mawpun ka Rytiang over that stream, with a single stone. This stone bridge, situated on the Theria road about a mile below Cherra, existed up to the Earthquake of 1897, which demolished it. The large slab of stone which formed the roadway of the bridge, is however, still to be seen lying in the bed of the stream. When she was about to build her house, it happened that she got married notwithstanding; she gave birth to a blind child, and died shortly afterwards. So the people called the village "Mawpun-ka-Rytiang," or, when abbreviated, "Mawpunkyrtiang."