|
Bujang Valley, also known as
Lembah Bujang, is a famous
historical site in Kedah found in the western part of
the serene Sungai Petani Town. This place of interest in
Malaysia was the place of a prosperous Hindu-Buddhist
civilization dating back to the 5th century
AD. The famous Chinese monk named I-Tsing was here in
671 AD while this rich kingdom was involved in trade
with other nations such as Cambodia, India and Srivijaya.
During the 7th
century AD, this tourist attraction was part of the well
known Srivijaya empire of Sumatra and reached its
architectural peak in the 10th century AD.
Srivijaya and the Lembah Bujang kingdom were attacked by
the Cholas of India in 1025 and when the Srivijaya
empire was losing its power, the Lembah Bujang kingdom
forged an alliance with the Cholas. Tourists making their trip to this astonishing site will
be glad to know that there are more than fifty
archaeological sites containing the magnificent ruins of
Hindu and Buddhist temples found here which was left
deserted with the coming of Islam to the region. The amazing fact
is that these temple ruins stretches from Gunung Jerai
to all the way to Kuala Muda. British archaeologist
Quatrich-Wales was the first person to excavate the
ruins in 1936.
The main attraction here is
the Lembah Bujang Archaeological Museum (Muzium
Arkeologi) which is located
beside the great Bujang River, roughly about two
kilometers north of Merbok village. Some of the exhibits
seen at this popular museum are pottery shards, ceramics
and stoneware dating to almost two thousand years. Other
interesting items shown here include Chinese porcelain,
gemstones, Indian tridents and beautiful stone carvings
but without doubt the most exciting finds here are the
temples and among the items obtained from the temples
were a fragment of a wall frieze and a statue of the
elephant god Ganesh. The partially restored candi
(temples) can be seen at the rear section of the museum. Two remarkable sites of six hundred years old chandis were found in 1997 with the one thousand years
old Candi Bukit Batu Pahat being the most important
whereby the entire complex will become a famous National
Historic Park in Malaysia.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
|