Myanglung – The Giant Cat Sculpture Story | Tehrathum, Nepal

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The title of my blog refers to the picture attached here that shows a sculpture of a cat in the middle of the street that stands not less than 10 feet. In one of my recent solo trips to Tehrathum – hilly district of Eastern Nepal, I had made a one-day stay at Myanglung. Myanglung is the headquarter of Tehrathum that lies at 1,500 meters above sea level.

Stepping out of the bus after a 2.5 hours long trip from Sidhuwa Bazaar, Dhankuta at Myanglung, I was fascinated by the cat sculpture in the middle of the main highway. The first thing that came to my mind was: “So, cats do rule some part of the world!” I didn’t stop myself from not taking its picture and was eager to find out the story behind the giant cat sculpture that stared right in my eyes.

 

I asked several people that day, during my work, about the story behind the giant cat. Well, none could tell me anything besides their assumptions and theories. Later, after my day’s work was accomplished, I was able to meet an elderly who was recognized as one of the popular leaders of Myanglung. I didn’t wait any moment and asked him about the giant stone cat in the middle of the highway. He smiled and began the story. It goes like this:

It is a mythical story that is about a century old. Three porters were coming to Myanglung from Terai, carrying heavy loads in their back. The roads were not proper and vehicles did not run in those times. The sun was about to set when they reached near Myanglung. So, those three porters decided to stay a night in the same place.

One of the tired porters collected few white stones to make a chimney for a fire. After he had arranged those stones, he added little firewood, then put a utensil over it, and lighted the fire. Surprisingly, one of the stones showed a sudden movement. The porter was too tired so the imbalance of the stone made him angry. Therefore, he lifted his Khukuri (Nepali knife, bigger than the kitchen knife), and hit the stone with it to let go of his frustration. Another minute, the stone that was moving previously, started bleeding. It was a horrific scene. All three porters were scared to death, so, they left the place immediately.

The next day, villagers that found out what had happened to the porters, went to the same place. They discovered redness over the stone which was cut with Khukuri. Since that day, there were meowing sound during the night time, and children began to disappear. The villagers were frightened but did not know how to heal the situation. One morning, a person from the village collected everyone and told about the dream he saw last night. He explained how a Hindu goddess was crying in his dream and wanted to be worshipped. After hearing about the person’s dream, the villagers took it as a sign from the deity and decided to worship the stone that had bled previously. They carried it and put it over a huge stone and started worshipping it every day. Finally, the meowing sounds in the night disappeared and no other terrific incidents took place afterward.

The place was later named Myanglung or Myaaulung. Myanglung comes from Limbu Language and is made up of two words: myaau and lung which mean cat and stone respectively. It explains the popular incident of the bleeding stone that cried like a cat that took place a century ago. One can still find the remains of the stone which is covered with roots today in Myanglung. Though the story sounds unusual and impossible, one cannot deny the fact that the majority of the locals in the area believe it.

If you ever come to Eastern Nepal, do not miss this place. After all, history and mythical stories make us excited and we should respect them. Believing one is totally up to you!

Aleena Rayamajhi
2/13/2021