Night visit to Masjid (mosque of) Zahir

Continung the supporting series for the trip to the north made end of August last year. After spending time up Gunung Jerai we went down late afternoon and headed further up north to Alor Setar. Stopping en-route to break our fast (it was the Muslim month of Ramadhan remember?) we only reached the Kedah capital sometime after 8.

Upon reaching Alor Setar we immediately head for the main mosque at the centre of town.

This is a very beautiful mosque but I can't remember ever visiting it at night...

After taking a shower at the restroom it's time to roam and look around.

But first let's have a look at the mosque from main front. The opening pictures were taken from a rather obscure part...

It is from this front that passers-by often enjoy the view of this beautiful mosque. It is the view everyone can't see while driving up the main street in front.

Oh. Did I tell you the mosque is called Masjid (mosque of) Zahir? It is also the royal mosque of Kedah.

Now let's go inside.

By then people were waiting for the Isyaq prayers, the last of the 5 obligatory prayers prescribed to Muslims for a day.

Area under the dome.

Now I've been to this mosque many times but like I said before I can't remember visiting it at night.


This time I found out there's another section in front.

Bringing the family to the place designated as Padang (field of) Tok Sheikh

Continuing from The well of Tok Sheikh.

The journey was continued uphill.

At a bend close to the summit of Gunung Jerai we stopped and parked the car.

There's a place I wanted to bring the family to...

To get there you have to walk up this path.

The path gave way to an opening.

The opening has stony ground...

Welcome to the place designated as Padang or field of Tok Sheikh.

Besides is a monument which if I'm not mistaken marks the location of an ancient mosque...

The 'field' covers parts downhill.

Want to know why I said this place is designated as Padang Tok Sheikh, why not say it outright?

To understand read the old article Views on top of Gunung Jerai... Enter Padang Tok Sheikh. Is it?.

It was made 3 years ago. Then there's no such concrete walls here...

Meanwhile let the family enjoy this place in quiet joy. I love you very much wife. Thank you for giving me the boy which I have always wanted the last 10 years! For the record this is their first time ever at Gunung Jerai. Baby Muhammad Al-Aminul Rasyid was then only 10 months. :]

The well of Tok Sheikh

Continuing from The superb views from on top of Gunung Jerai.

Soon it is time to head for another section of Gunung Jerai.

First you have to take a winding route downhill.

Nope. We're not leaving the mountain. It is just we're going down to get to the saddle between two peaks, the second highest which we have just left and the highest which we could partly see in the background.

Notice where the road evens out?

From there the journey is uphill again.

We stopped at the saddle to get to a certain place.

Here lies a small stream and besides it is a well.

Legends say this is where Tok Sheikh, a magical elderly and saintly figure used to take abolution for prayers some 900 years. Tok is a Malay call of respect for the elders, coming from the word Atok or Atok which means grandpa. Sheikh usually means a religious teacher or spiritual master. Don't mistake it with the Sheikhs of oil-rich Arab states which tends to carry a negative aura of unbridled indulgence in worldly passions. For the record this is the 656th article in this blogspot.

The superb views from on top of Gunung Jerai

Continuing from The trip up Gunung (mount) Jerai.

Slightly further on you can see these buildings.

It is among the chalets available at this resort, the only one on top of Gunung Jerai.



One thing about this place is the superb view you could get.

From here you can practically peer down on almost half of Kedah's coast. Such is the vista provided from 1,200 metres high.

Actually Gunung Jerai has a higher peak as seen in the background. For the record most mountains have a number of peaks and the one see here is the highest for this mountain. However it is thickly covered by jungles and growth obscuring the view. Besides the topmost part is guarded by the military and thus off-limit to civilians.

As far as I could gather the peak we were standing at here is the second highest. Thus officially it is designated as the top of Gunung Jerai where everyone could pay a visit. In the background is the surau or small praying hall within the resort's compound. Look around and you could see it is the highest point around these parts...

A view of the chalets previously seen in the first picture. This one is taken from the verandah of the surau.

A view towards the coast. It is refreshing to see such a wide vista.

I was trying to remember from which angle this picture was taken. Then I noticed the stains on and realised it was taken from inside the surau pass the glasses.