In the article The Aceh connection... made more than a month ago I've shown the picture above without making any explanation. Now let me tell you all dear readers this... the carvings seen with sharp points jutting out of every corner represent something from a bygone era of Aceh. While one is hardpressed to find such carvings at any present house or building in Aceh in this modern times, it is quite common at some old wooden infrastructures in Perak, Malaysia. When I first noticed such carvings in Perak while looking up my roots which led to Aceh, my heart tells me that it did originated from Aceh. But my trips to that part of the world in January 2004, June 2009 and January 2010 failed to offer any evidence...
The funny thing is I finally found this carving in my latest trip to Aceh at the end of February 2010, a trip made to celebrate the Maulidur Rasul (Prophet Muhammad SAW's) birthday in Perlak, an area which used to be the centre of the first Islamic kingdom in the Malay Archipelago ruled by an Ahlul Bait (the Prophet's descendant) since some 1,200 years ago...
What happened was on Thursday night we left Banda Aceh for Perlak. Since Perlak is now a small 'cowboy' town, we could only find proper lodging at Idi some 25 km north of Perlak. That's where we stayed, at a hotel called Bandar Khalifah which used to be the name of the central city of old Perlak. Friday morning as we waited for our convoy to get to the celebrations in Perlak, me, wife and baby stepped out of the hotel grounds and saw the carvings. A local then told us the carvings represented an era from old Perlak where similar carvings used to grace houses and buildings just like the ones I've seen in Perak!
Anyway soon we went to Perlak and arrived at the mosque of Nurun Niswah which was newly opened for the Maulidur Rasul celebration. While this is the main reason this trip to Aceh was made I won't elaborate much. Instead you can have a look at the video clips featured in the article Maulidur Rasul di Aceh : Majlis Maulud di Masjid Nurun Niswah, Perlak made in the Malay blogspot CATATAN SI MERAH SILU. 
You see, frankly I was more excited at what's to come next, a visit to a certain tomb in a Perlak rural area just about 10 km or more from the mosque. Oh, posing in the picture is our friend Haji Muzaffar (left) and the young Imam (congregational prayer leader) of Banda Aceh's Baiturrahman mosque who followed us to Perlak. Funnily, they looked like they have been superimposed... must be due to combination of colours I guess...
The tomb belongs to Sultan Sayyid Maulana Abdul Aziz Shah whom I have mentioned earlier. Here's my wife and our baby posing in front of the tomb...
As for me, I just can't resist putting my red sash around the tombstone. No prize for guessing what the red sash is meant for. Those who know would just smile in understanding. That's all regarding Perlak... :]
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