 The cultural village gate pictured in 2013, before the renaming to heritage village | |
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| Established | 1996 |
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| Location | Kuai Kandazon Village, Putatan Ramayah Road, 89507Penampang District, Sabah |
| Coordinates | 5°53′20.925″N116°4′45.087″E / 5.88914583°N 116.07919083°E /5.88914583; 116.07919083 |
| Type | Open-air,cultural history,living history museum |
| Website | infomonsopiadcultu.wx.com |
Monsopiad Heritage Village (Kadazan Dusun:Kampung Tinungkus Monsopiad;Malay:Kampung Warisan Monsopiad) or also known by its former name ofMonsopiad Cultural Village (Kadazan Dusun:Kampung Koubasanan Monsopiad;Malay:Kampung Budaya Monsopiad) is anopen-air museum which is made up of several traditional buildings and a living museum inSabah of Malaysia.[1][2] Situated in Kuai Kandazon Village ofPenampang District with the scenic view of Moyog River, which is about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Sabah's capital city ofKota Kinabalu, the heritage village houses the legacy ofMonsopiad, a fearlessKadazan-Dusun warrior of the village of Kuai who lived between 200–300 years ago.[1][3]
The heritage village (known as cultural village at the time) was opened to the public in 1996 to commemorate theKadazan-Dusun warrior ofMonsopiad.[1] It is situated at the same exact spot where the warrior used to live and roam, where the village is also the first cultural village (aside from Mari Mari Cultural Village and Linangkit Cultural Village, which was established in 2008 and 2013 respectively) in Sabah.[1] The direct descendants ofMonsopiad solely established and manage the heritage village to remember their forefathers while at the same time appreciating the culture of the Kadazan-Dusuns.[1][4] The establishment of the cultural village is entirely funded throughprivate projects without any sort of financial support or grants from the government, where it also relies heavily on the support from the public to sustain it, with the entrance fee paid by the visitors going for the conservation of the heritage village,[1] although there was an issue previously between the cultural village founders (a British businessman and hisKadazan wife, the distant descendant ofMonsopiad) and the indigenous workers at the cultural village.[5]
Based on a legend from centuries ago, the story starts when an indigenous lady namedKizabon was pregnant. The lady lived in a house with her husband,Dunggou.[6] Awaiting her delivery, a sacred bird namedBugang makes its way and builds a nest on the roof of their house. When a male child was about to be born, theBugang birds hatched as well,[7] and the husband took the sign as a goodomen, which is a sign that their newborn would have special powers or ability.[8] The father named his sonMonsopiad and at the same time took special care of the birds' well-being, such as whenever his son wanted to take a bath,Dunggou would take the young birds down from their nest to bathe together with his son. When they are done, the father will return the bird to their nest, which was done diligently until the birds were strong enough to leave the nest.[7] The name of the village the young boy grew up in isKuai (in present-day Penampang District), where his maternal grandfather is the headman.[8] However, the once peaceful village was so chaotic and problematic since it was often plundered and attacked bypiratical bandits composed ofIranun people and from rival tribal groups such as theMurut people,[6][7] and every time the bandits came, the villagers had to retreat and hide while the bandits continued to ransack their homes and property.Monsopiad, however, was given special training since his childhood, and he turned out to be an excellent fighter and grew up to become a warrior.[8]
When he became an adult, he vowed to hunt down and fight off the bandits that had terrorised his village for so long.[7] Every time a fight occurs with the bandits, he willbring back their heads as trophies and hang them from the roof of his house. To further prove that he really did as promised, three boys went with him as witnesses. Just as he promised,Monsopiad's journey to rid his village of the bandits was successful by finally killing the piratical bandits leader, and upon coming home, he was given a hero's welcome.[7] He was so honoured by the welcome that he proclaimed to destroy every single enemy that tries to disturb the peace of his village.[8] Over the years, he grows to be very strong and attains a reputation that no one is able to challenge. However, this soon causedMonsopiad to be obsessed with his murderous rages that frequently plaguing his obsessive mind, where he simply could not stop himself from beheading more people and soon started provoking even peaceful men to fight him so that he could behead them.[7]
His behaviour had changed; all the villagers and his close friends became terrified of him.[7] With little choice, the villagers started to gather a group of brave men together, and they planned to eliminateMonsopiad due to his constant threats.[9] As much as they respectedMonsopiad for his heroic deeds, they had no other choice other than to kill him, since he had slowly turned into a very dangerous threat.[7][9] One night, as planned, the men moved in for the kill asMonsopiad was resting in his house. As they jointly attacked him, he fought back fiercely but realised that he had lost his special powers that were bestowed upon him by theBugang bird. He was killed afterwards. Despite his downfall, the villagers still lovedMonsopiad deeply for all the good deeds he had ever done for the villagers safety.[7] Afterall, he able to kill a total of 42 enemies throughout his life.[4][5]
The exhibits at the heritage village museum include the "House of Skulls" which hasskull back from theheadhunting era where all the 42 "trophies" ofMonsopiad's are hung on display.[1][3][10] Themenhir which are believed to be thetombstone ofMonsopiad has a height of 96 cm (3 ft 2 in), width of 49 centimetres (1.61 ft) at its base, abreadth of about 6 centimetres (0.20 ft) to 7 centimetres (0.23 ft), and a circumference at mid-level of 1.1 metres (3.6 ft).[11] Another sight is a large stonemonolith named "Gintutun do Mohoing", which is believed to be inhabited byspirits from the past.[4] At the centre of the village is thetangkob (granary) where the essence of Kadazan-Dusuns life is stored in the form ofpaddy.[2][12] As visitors traverse throughout the village, the "Kotos di Monsopiad" also can be seen at the site which is dedicated on the life journey ofMonsopiad and his descendants.[12] Variety ofartefacts, fromceramic jars to paddy grinders, reminiscing the visual journey into the past with one of the feature is the costume of "Bobohizan Inai Bianti", a direct descendant ofMonsopiad and a revered highpriestess.[2][12]
Media related toMonsopiad Heritage Village at Wikimedia Commons| Administration buildings |  | ||||||||||
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italics indicated the project is under construction. | |||||||||||
