Langkawi’s most famous legend is that of Mahsuri – a tragic tale of a woman falsely accused of adultery and a curse that singed the prosperity of the island and its people for seven generations.

When Mahsuri, a young woman living on the island in the early 1800’s was executed in the rice paddies for her claimed adulterous acts, white blood is said to have seeped from her veins where she was stabbed with a keris (dagger) of her own family. With her last breath she cursed the island for seven generations. Langkawi truly did fade into obscurity until it was proclaimed a duty-free island in 1987 – exactly seven generations later – and tourism brought new prosperity to its shores.

Mahsuri’s body was laid to rest in the picturesque rice paddies where she once lived and died, and Kota Mahsuri (literally, Place of Mahsuri) was erected here as a shrine to her and her legend.   

The colourful way in which the legend is told in words, pictures and video; the original artefacts from that era and the adjoining cultural village, complete with traditional Malay houses, make for a fascinating journey into the history and culture of the island.

Dinners with traditional dance performances are also arranged.