Inside the historical Kota Kayang Museum in Perlis

Published on November 28, 2018 | by freemalaysiatoday.com

The Kota Kayang Museum, also known as the Perlis State Museum, is located in a scenic area surrounded by eight hills a few kilometres from Kuala Perlis.

It is a new building, completed in 1999 but is supposed to be structurally identical to the one it replaced. The older building used to the official residence of the British Advisor to Perlis.

During the war it was used by both the Japanese military administration and the Thai military government which was installed by the Japanese to run the northern states of Malaya.

After the war the building became the residence of the Perlis Chief Minister until it was demolished in 1991 to make way for the museum.

Exhibits are spread over a few galleries and include old headstones, early potters and weapons.

This is how they describe a curved blade dagger called the Lawi Ayam: “The metal used to make the weapon is special so that it acquires special powers. Those who fall victim to this weapon would succumb to serious injuries until his guts spilled out.” Charming!

The Royal Gallery explains that Perlis was formerly ruled by a governor but in 1843, the King of Thailand upgraded the status of the governor to King (Raja), and the post has been held ever since by the Jamalullail family who can trace their ancestry back to Hadramaut in Yemen.

The royal telly and an old kerosene fan are among some of the exhibits here.

However, the grounds of the museum are more attractive than anything on the inside.

For instance, there is a 17th century tomb of Sultan Dhiauddin Mukarram Shah (also known as Al–Marhum Kayang the First).

During his reign a canal was built from the south bank of the Perlis River all the way to Anak Bukit in Kedah. Possibly it is still around but there are so many drainage and irrigation waterways in this area it is hard to tell which is which from the map.