OK. After stopping at the tombs of the 2 Muazzams (see Latest visit to the tombs of the two Muazzams...) I visited tombs of another 2 Sultans and a member of the Perak royalty called Raja Ahmad before visiting this old abandoned mosque.
This is either my 5th or 6th visit here. I remember accidently coming across the mosque while looking for the tomb of Raja Ahmad in September 2006. The second visit happened with my good friend Zaidi @ PerpatihTulus sometime in 2007. In August 2008 I came with a number of friends while in December the same year I was joined by my then newly-wedded wife and an old friend Shamsul Yunos who was acting as a photographer for a certain project. Plus this latest visit, that makes 5 altogether. But I do feel like I could have made another visit sometime between 2006 and 2008 but I just could not put a finger on it. That is why I said this is either my 5th or 6th visit...
Inside still lies and old pulpit which is at least 80 years old. I was told that it was once removed to a modern mosque but something supernatural happened prompting for it to be returned here, never mind that this mosque has been abandoned since at least 1997. OK, I know for sure that the area around was called Bandar Baharu (the new town), a name which came out when the 19th Sultan of Perak, Sultan Abdul Malik Mansur Shah built his capital here almost 200 years ago. But the town practically withered away and died after the Perak war against the English from 1875 to 1877.
There used to be a village here which lasted a number of decades but continous flooding has made the populace moved 2 km or so towards the inland main road. Since the place has been uninhabited for some time I was made to understand that the name Bandar Baharu has become redundant... instead the name Teluk (bay of) Memali took centre stage. Recently only did I noticed that the tomb of Sultan Abdul Malik which lies about 200 metres from the mosque is said to be at Kampung (village of) Bandar Baharu, a name associated with this place after the original Bandar Baharu which was the capital of Perak withered away. I also noticed the tomb of the 17th Sultan, Sultan Alauddin Mansur Iskandar Muda (ruled 1773-1792) which is situated some 2 km to the south is said to be in Teluk Memali.
So does this mean Teluk Memali is a distinct place from Bandar Baharu? Or does it actually include the old Perak capital? As the name Teluk Memali refers to a bay area somewhere along the Perak river, I decided to check the satellite pictures using Google Earth. A bay on a river shows when the river bents and it seemed to cover an area more than 2 km long. Anywhere there's a signboard which says the tomb of Sultan Abdul Malik is situated at Bandar Baharu, Teluk Memali. So I guess the name Teluk Memali covers the whole stretch... :]
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