Several people have blogged about it but now it seems like the interest has faded. I am not surprised considering the fact that there were never many people in Malaysia who were interested about history or archeology for that matter, in the first place.
Sometime back I had blogged about the forgotten 'Batu Hidup' near the Old Railway station in Kuala Lumpur. None of my KL born and raised friends (or my wife) had a clue about the origins of the megaliths - and should I say, "don't care!" Like a friend who once said “ who cares about dead people and some old ruins” when I started a topic on the ruins in the Bujang valley of Kedah.
In case you still haven't got the hint, I am talking about the recent claims of a lost and forgotten city of Kota Gelanggi, somewhere in the forests of Johor. I guess NST is still smarting over the fact that it didn’t carry the news first of all. That explains why it does not carry any more news about the claims made by Raimy Che-Ross. On the other hand, the Star, which carried the story first of all is still trying to stoke the fire of interest. You can read the entire sequence of events that set off the buzz at the Star site here.
One thing that really intrigues me is why (and is not explained in any of the articles) Raja Rajendra Cholavarman I of the South Indian Chola Dynasty went around leaving a trail of destruction all the way from the North - Gangga Negara (now Perak) to the south - Kota Gelanggi (in Johor).
By the way, I also wonder why people still refer to the Malacca Sultanate as if the history of the country started there when much older cities and empires had existed before that including Langkasuka and Bujang Valley in Kedah, Beruas and Gangga Negara in Perak.
Any comments?
4 comments:
i'm very interested in history, especially ancient asian history. i wish i could learn more... many may not care about ruins and all, but i personally think they are very, very important because they will help us know who we truly are.:)
I agree with you Babypink. In the rush to modernize, we tend to ignore the past and thing we could learn from it.
The then King of Srivijaya was Sangrama Vijayothunga Varman. Srivijaya, was a place of trading for Tamils and Chinese traders.
Raja Rajendhra Cholan, destroyed 12 port cities of Srivijaya, to establish his supremacy. Out of which Malaiyur, now Malaysia is also one. The reason for this war os not known, but, may be in interest of local Tamils.
You can reach me on rajendhracholan@yahoo.com...!
Indeed, i should agree with u about the sad state of malaysians not knowing much about their history or is it because they were also NOT given enough infomation or education about. History books for school nowadays do not mention much about these ancient kingdoms. Reason? Try to figure out. Malysian history nowadays starts with Malacca.
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