 Alongside descriptions of historical events, the stories often contain mythical elements.Pantun were originally not written down, the bards often being illiterate and in many cases blind.Originally the performances had a sacred character, as was clear from the offerings made at the beginning of the recitation and also from the content of the introductory part of the story, called rajah, which was an invocatory song, imploring the help of divine figures to ward off bad influences.