The Star features the archaeological museum at Bujang Valley, an hour’s drive away from the popular tourist destination of Penang. The article has a questionable reference of the Bujang Valley being once known as Nusantara – the term ‘Nusantara’ is actually a term to refer to the entire Malay world (from modern Malaysia, Indonesia to Southern Philippines, or in some cases just Indonesia). For more detailed information about Bujang Valley, check out the SEAArch special reports here and here.
Bujang Valley treasures
The Star, 21 October 2008
More visitors including foreigners are visiting the Bujang Valley Archaeology Museum in Merbok near Sungai Petani which displays alluring temple ruins and artefacts more than 1,500 years old.
Busloads arrive mostly at the weekends and public holidays and last year, the museum received 127,500 visitors. This year, there has been a marked increase in foreign tourists from all over the world.
Some 1,000 documented exhibits excavated from various sites in Bujang Valley have been reconstructed and displayed in the museum and its grounds.
This treasure trove transports one back in time to the third to 14th century AD when Bujang Valley had a thriving Hindu and Buddhist civilisation.
Related Books:
– Early History (The Encyclopedia of Malaysia)
– Lembah Bujang: The Bujang Valley
– Antiquities of Bujang Valley
– The Cambridge History of Southeast Asia
– Southeast Asia: From Prehistory to History
