Just a few kilometres outside Teluk Intan on the way to Kampung Gajah lies these old tombs...
I'm not sure who was buried in this one but I know for sure it is related to the tomb shown below...
Here is the tomb of a famous legendary Perak figure of old known simply as Keramat Kuala Bidor... Or literally could be tranlasted as the charismatic saintly figure of estuary of the Bidor river.
Now, I won't go into lengths explaining who is. Suffice to say that you should read these old articles which are translations/adapatations of excerpts from my Malay novels "Berpetualang ke Aceh" posted here almost 2 years ago! Have a look at it... Just click at the titles.
The tale of Keramat Kuala Bidor
The tale of Keramat Kuala Bidor 2… Touching a bit on the world shadow government
The Tale of Keramat Kuala Bidor 3 – And so the story goes…
Or you can check the video clip in the article Menyusuri sejarah sekitar Perjanjian Pangkor 1874... Keramat Kuala Bidor posted in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU just before 1am today...
Next, we move some 15km more up north to get to this old abandoned mosque...
There's something unique about this mosque, it's beautiful design and architecture notwithstanding...
Just look at the pulpit inside... It's a gem isn't it?
A look at the front. For more explanation on it, please read the article Masjid lama Perak yang terbiar (An old and abandoned Perak old mosque) in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART)
Soon, it's time to go further into the wilderness. We actually have to walk as the path is not that accesible to cars... Yes, it was made wide enough for cars. It's just that the condition is not so good. You don't want your car getting stuck in the mud and such while exploring an abandoned area which is miles away from current civilisation, especially not when the time then was almost dusk!
Some 200-300 metres (or was it more than 500 metres?) further up north, we came across this signage leading to the tomb of the 19th ruler of Perak, Sultan Abdul Malik Mansur Shah...
Too bad, the condition of the tomb is deteriorating despite the fact that it is a historical site gazetted by the museum...
Just look at the condition of the actual tomb itself and one is hardpressed to find the tombstones... I mean for God's sake, this is not just anybody's tomb... This is the tomb of the person who ruled the state of Perak some 200 years ago! Why leave it like this?
On the other hand look at this burial ground another 500 metres further or so away...
This Christian burial site is so well-kept, such a huge contrast to the condition of the Muslim tomb that is resting area of a Perak ruler... Why?
For the record, in this burial ground lies the body of first British resident to Perak, J.W.W. Birch who was murdered in 1875 by the locals. Again, I won't go into lengths. Perhaps the articles The main players of the Perak-British war as depicted at the fort of Ngah Ibrahim... and In Perak's royal mausoleum to give justice to Laksamana Raja Mahkota Muhammad Amin posted here six months ago would help...
Oh... We are running out of pictures for this article when the article here mentioned someone by the name of Raja Ahmad... What actually happened?
Well, we actually arrived at the Christian burial ground at dusk and came out of the area in the dark. Still we went on by car to get to the tomb of Raja Ahmad, a 19th Century Perak royal who was the great grandfather to practically all the major Perak royals since then including rulers. But if you still want to see pictures showing the way it looked then (in pitch dark at night except for the beam of lights from our cars), you can have a look at the article Perjalanan terbaru ke Perak... Perjalanan malam ke Pasir Salak, Makam Raja Ahmad, Makam Keramat Kuala Bidor sebelum kembali ke Teluk Intan... made in the blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU 2 months ago.
Oh, by the way, the officially genealogy mentioned Raja Ahmad as the son of Sultan Abdul Malik Mansur Shah whose messy tomb we have shown above. But some said, Raja Ahmad is actually the son in-law of the Perak's 19th ruler...
Whatever, what is interesting is Raja Ahmad was believed to have disappeared into thin air after falling down the nearby river of Sungai Terus. The tomb we visited is actually a place marked by a single 'tombstone' to signify the location where he disappeared at. Perhaps it would help if you view the video clips available in the articles just posted at CATATAN SI MERAH SILU tonight (or this morning... Whatever!) never mind everything there is explained in Malay. Please view it in order. The articles are...
and
With that, I close this article. Good night! :]
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