Membetulkan kain batu nesan (Repositioning the cloth on tombstones)

Salah satu perkara yang saya selalu buat apabila berjalan jauh terutama di Perak, negeri kelahiran ayahanda adalah menziarahi makam-makam lama milik para wali dan kerabat diraja. Dalam perjalanan ke Perak pada Sabtu dan Ahad lalu, saya sempat menziarahi lagi makam Keramat Kuala Bidor dan Sultan Perak ke 22, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad I di Teluk Intan serta makam Raja Ahmad di Pulau Besar.
One of the things I usually do when travelling far especially in Perak, the state where my father was born in is to visit the old tombs of saints and members of the royalty. In the Perak trip made Saturday and Sunday, I had the opportunity to visit again the tombs of Keramat Kuala Bidor and the 22nd king of Perak, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad I at Teluk Intan along with the tomb of Raja Ahmad at Pulau Besar.
Makam Raja Ahmad sebenarnya adalah sebuah kawasan dengan batu peringatan yang menandakan tempat baginda hilang setelah jatuh ke Sungai Terus. Baginda adalah datuk kepada Sultan Abdullah Muhammad II yang dibuang ke Pulau Seychelles tahun 1877. Seorang lagi cucu baginda ialah Sultan Idris II yang membuka Bukit Chandan serta bandar diraja Kuala Kangsar.
The tomb of Raja Ahmad is actually an area marked by a stone to commemorate the place where he disappeared after falling down the river Terus. The man is the grandfather to Sultan Abdullah Muhammad II who was exiled to the Seychelles Island in 1877. His other grandchildren is Sultan Idris II who opened up Bukit Chandan and the royal town of Kuala Kangsar.
Apapun saya bercerita kali ini kerana tergerak apabila memerhatikan koleksi gambar yang diambil dalam perjalanan terbaru ke Perak ini. Gambar di atas diambil rakan saya Zaidi ketika saya sedang membetulkan kedudukan kain kuning yang diikat pada batu nesan ahli keluarga Sultan Abdullah Muhammad I, raja yang juga dikenali sebagai Marhum Durian Sebatang.
Anyway I'm telling you this because I was moved after going through the collection of pictures taken during the recent Perak trip. The picture above was taken by my friend Zaidi when I was repositioning the yellow clothing tied to the tombstones of family members of Sultan Abdullah Muhammad I, the deceased king also known as Marhum Durian Sebatang (he who died at Durian Sebatang, the name of the place where he spent his last days)
Untuk pengetahuan, kain kuning selalunya diikat pada batu nesan untuk menandakan pemiliknya adalah seorang berdarah raja. Saya terpanggil untuk membetulkan kedudukannya setelah mendapati kain-kain di makam itu diikat pada batu nesan di bahagian kaki sedangkan ia sepatutnya berada di bahagian kepala.
For information, yellow clothing are usually tied to tombstones to mark the grave of royalty. I was moved to correct the positioning after realising the clothes at the tombs were tied at the tombstones marking the foot while it should be at the head.
Di sini saya ingin mengambil peluang... Mana-mana kaum keluarga yang berkenaan, jika terlihat mana-mana kain kuning di kawasan makam diraja diikat pada batu nesan bahagian kaki sehingga lebih terserlah daripada bahagian kepala, silalah betulkan. Mungkin orang yang mengikatnya dahulu tidak sedar di manakah bahagian kepala kerana tidak mengambil kira arah kiblat terlebih dahulu.
Here I'm taking this opportunity... To whom it may concern especially family members, if you see any yellow clothing at royal tombs tied to the part marking the foot making it appear more prominent than the head, please correct it. Maybe the people who tied the clothers before were not aware which is the head as they forget to consider the direction for prayers (the kiblat referring to the Ka'abah in Mecca).
Adapun tidak elok bahagian kaki dibiarkan lebih terserlah daripada bahagian kepala, janggal saya melihatnya sehingga terasa wajib membetulkannya. Sebelum ini, saya juga pernah memperbetulkan kedudukan kain di makam-makam diraja lain. Mungkin betul kata Zaidi, saya "dipanggil" ke Teluk Intan untuk membetulkan ini sedangkan perjalanan ini asalnya mahu dibuat sampai ke Tanjung Malim sahaja tetapi kami kemudian berjalan sekitar lagi 100km lebih jauh lalu sampai ke sini!
It is not good to have the foot-part appearing more prominent than the head, it felt so strange to me that I feel I must correct it. Previously I have done the same thing at other royal tombs. Maybe Zaidi was right, I was "called" to Teluk Intan to remedy this as the trip was originally made to go up to Tanjung Malim only but we ended up travelling some 100km further and so here we are!

Lagi perjalanan ke Perak (Another trip ke Perak)

Kubah masjid lama Ampang Pecah di Kuala Kubu Baru.
The dome of the Ampang Pecah old mosque at Kuala Kubu Baru

Beberapa hari lepas, saya telah mendapat gerak hati untuk berjalan ke Tanjung Malim dengan niat mencari rumah-rumah lama di sana. Kali ini, saya terasa malas hendak berjalan seorang diri atau menaiki pengangkutan awam maka saya telah mengajak seorang kawan rapat Zaidi turut sama dalam perjalanan ini. Maka kami menetapkan hari Sabtu sebagai hari yang sesuai. Perjalanan mungkin mengambil masa 2 hari bergantung pada apa yang terjadi.
A few days ago, my instincts told me to go to Tanjung Malim looking for old houses. This time I felt too lazy to travel alone or use the public transport so I invited a close friend Zaidi to tag along. We set Saturday as the best day to start. The trip might take 2 days depending on what happens.
Pada hari Sabtu jam 11 pagi, Zaidi pun muncul di rumah ibu saudara tempat saya menginap di Ampang. Teringat pula jaket biru kegemaran saya yang tertinggal di dalam kereta ibu saudara lain berserta 50 naskah buku "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti." Saya pun mengajak Zaidi ke rumah ibu saudara itu di Petaling Jaya. Sampai di sana, baru saya tahu barang-barang ini masih berada di dalam kereta dan ibu saudara itu sedang berada di sekitar Selayang untuk membeli-belah barangan harian. Maka pergilah kami ke sana, nasib baik dapat juga berjumpa. Dipendekkan cerita, setelah makan tengah-hari di Selayang, barulah kami bergerak ke Perak.
On Saturday 11 am, Zaidi showed his face at my aunty's place in Ampang where I'm staying at the moment. My favourite blue jacket which was left in another aunty's car came to mind along with 50 copies of the novel "Berpetualang ke Aceh: Mencari Diri dan Erti." And so I asked Zaidi to go to her house in Petaling Jaya. Upon arrival then I learned the goods were still inside the car and my aunty was around Selayang. So we went there and luckily managed to bump into her. To cut the story short, we only started the trip to Perak after having lunch in Selayang.
Kami sengaja memilih jalan lama kerana mahu melihat pemandangan. Oleh kerana kami bermula dari sekitar Selayang, rasanya elok juga kalau lalu jalan Empangan Batu sampai ke Ulu Yam. Lagipun rasanya sudah hampir 5 tahun saya tidak lalu di situ sedangkan Zaidi pula baru sekali pernah ke sana. Kami pun lalu tetapi tidak singgah di tasik sebaliknya terus melepasi Ulu Yam. Sampai simpang ke Kuala Kubu, tergerak pula untuk ke sana. Dalam perjalanan itulah saya ternampak sebuah masjid lama yang agak cantik lalu singgah di sana. Rupa-rupanya masjid lama Ampang Pecah yang didirikan tahun 1926. Kami singgah minum di pekan sebelum meneruskan perjalanan.
We consciously chose the old road for the view. As we started around Selayang, it felt good to pass through the Batu Dam to Ulu Yam road. Its been nearly 5 years since I was anywhere there and Zaidi had only been to the place once. We went by the road but did stop at the lake as we went straight pass Ulu Yam. Then at the Kuala Kubu junction, we got the urge to go to the small town. On the way, I saw a beautiful old mosque and paid a visit. It is the old Ampang Pecah mosque built in 1926. Then we went for a drink at the small town before continuing the journey.
Kami sampai ke Tanjung Malim sekitar waktu Asar, itupun nyaris terlepas pekan kerana kami mengikut jalan baru yang dibina untuk mengelak kawasan pekan. Niat saya, paling kurang pun mesti menziarahi Masjid Syeikh Ismail di Ulu Bernam. Nasib baik sempat bertanya arah lalu berpatah balik mengikut sebuah jalan yang lalu di bawah landasan keretapi barulah sampai ke masjid itu... Rupa-rupanya tak jauh pun daripada stesyen bas Tanjung Malim. Singgahlah sebentar di masjid yang berumur sekitar 80 tahun itu.
We arrived at Tanjung Malim around Asar (around 4.30pm or so) but almost overshoot the town as we used the new road built to avoid the town. My intention was, at least go visit the Syeikh Ismail mosque in Ulu Bernam. Luckily we have to time to ask for direction and so had to turn back to follow a road which passes under the railway tracks to get to the mosque. As it turned out, it is not far from Tanjung Malim bus station. So we stopped for a while at the mosque which is around 80 years old.
Perjalanan ke Perak ini asalnya dibuat untuk sampai ke Tanjung Malim, lebih kurang 80km dari Kuala Lumpur tetapi timbul pula gerak baru untuk naik sampai ke Sungkai, lagi 30km begitu. Di sana, kami masuk pula sampai ke Changkat Sulaiman semata-mata kerana nama itu... Apakah ada kena-mengena dengan Nabi Sulaiman? Entah lah... Kemudian baru kami menunaikan solat Maghrib dan Isyak di masjid lama Sungkai. Setelah itu timbul pula keinginan untuk berjalan terus ke Bidor seterusnya Teluk Intan, lagi 80km lebih begitu. Maka bermalamlah kami di masjid lama kampung Batak Rabit menghadap kawasan permakaman keluarga Laksamana Raja Mahkota di hadapan.
This trip to Perak was to be up to Tanjung Malim, some 80km from Kuala Lumpur but then came a new-found urge to go up to Sungkai, another 30km or so. There, we went up to Changkat Sulaiman just because of the name... Has it anything to do with Nabi Sulaiman (King Solomon)? God knows... Then we did the Maghrib and Isyak prayers at the Sungkai old mosque. After that came the urge to just travel straight to Bidor and then Teluk Intan, another 80km plus or so. And so we ended spending the night at the Batak Rabit old mosque facing the Laksamana Raja Mahkota (old admiral nobility title)'s family tomb area.
Keesokannya kami pergi menziarahi makam Sultan ke 22 Perak, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad I kemudian pergi ke Kampung Bahagia untuk menziarahi makam Keramat Kuala Bidor. Setelah itu kami masuk ke kawasan Teluk Memali untuk menziarahi masjid lama misteri yang gambarnya ada dalam posting sebelum ini, sempat juga ke makam Sultan ke 19 Perak, Sultan Abdul Malik serta kubur J.W.W. Birch. Kemudian barulah kami keluar daripada kawasan itu lalu pergi ke kawasan Pulau Besar, Perak untuk menziarahi makam Raja Ahmad dan berehat sebentar di masjid lama sana.
The next day, we visited the tomb of the 22nd king of Perak, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad 1 then went to Kampung Bahagia to visit the tomb of Keramat Kuala Bidor (a legendary saintly figure of yore). After that, we went inside Teluk Memali area the visited the old mysterious mosque which picture has been posted here and have time to go to the tomb of the 19th king of Perak, Sultan Abdul Malik and J.W.W. Birch's grave. Then only we went out and head for Pulau Besar, Perak area to visit the tomb of Raja Ahmad (a royalty whose descendant formed the last few generations of Perak rulers) and rest at the old mosque there.
Selesai semua ini, kami pun ke Kampung Gajah lalu mengambil jalan Tanjung Tualang masuk ke Kampar sebelum ke Kuala Lumpur. Insyaallah cerita ini akan dihuraikan lagi di sini nanti...
After completing all this, we then went to Kampung Gajah and took the Tanjung Tualang route to Kampar before heading back to Kuala Lumpur. God willing, this story will be elaborated here soon...