What We Know of Lembah Bujang/ Kadaram/ Kedah Tua.
I only heard about the Lembah Bujang Archeological site located in the northern Malaysian state of Kedah in my 30s. Maybe there was no mention of this ancient ruins or the history behind it in my school history books back in the 60s and 70s.
It is most strange that the fact that Malaysia had risen from a most ancient and progressive civilisation, appears almost unimportant to the country’s historians and education system.
Even today’s school going children and young adults appear to be totally ignorant of the existence of Lembah Bujang stretching over 450 square kilometres and the archeological discoveries made there including more than 50 temple ruins. It has been indicated that this site could be older than the famous Angkor Wat site in Cambodia and Borobudur site in Indonesia.
News of iron smelting kilns and an ancient jetty and a sailing vessel recently found at the adjacent Sungai Batu excavation site adds to its great historical significance of the area.
Could it be that Malaysians on the whole are not particularly interested in knowing their glorious past. They obviously think history is not commercially viable bringing no benefit to them or their families.
The government is apparently also seen as not taking the Lembah Bujang site seriously considering that despite the site having been discovered in the 1840s, it’s authorities have yet to get it listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
I hope to find some answers on all these pertinent questions at the international Conference on Lembah Bujang titled, Kedah Tua: Bujang Valley in a Regional Context on 19th and 20th May at Ascott Gurney Hotel in Penang.
Picture Caption: Sungai Petani, Kedah based academic, Dr Anand Nagu (centre) giving an explanation about Lembah Bujang to a group of visitors at the site.
