| Page Views: 654 Last Visit to Gua Musang: October, 2008 | Gua Musang in Kelantan by chiabh - last update: Apr 14, 2009 |
Gua Musang with The Foxes Cave | the old town with railway station as background... |
Gua Musang is the name of a town and district in the state of Kelantan and is the largest of its 10 districts (or jajahans)... Gua Musang means "Cave of the Fox" in the local Malay language... On the eastern side of this town stands Bukit Gua Musang, a barren hill of rocks and deceptive stone-steps running 105 meters high, just by the side of the railway station... From a distance, this hill looks like a stone pillar with a big crack which nearly splits it vertically into two equal halves... In the early days Gua Musang is only accessible by railway which is still the main form of transport in the region... Road accesibility was only available in mid-1980s with the upgrading of the present trunk road from Kuala Lipis (from the south) and Kuala Krai (from the north)...
Gua Musang is about 290km from Kuala Lumpur on the Bentong-Kuala Lipis route and 390km on the Simpang Pulai-NS Highway route... It is about 186km to Kota Baru on the Kuala Krai-Kota Baru route...
The Legend
It was believed that long ago this town was inhabited by some superstitious hunters who made offerings of animals in front of the cave of Bukit Gua Musang... One afternoon a raging storm broke out and the huts of the hunters were destroyed... At the height of the storm a bolt of lightning struck the summit of the hill and nearly split it in two... The hunters, believing that the God of the Cave was angry with them, knelt down and began to pray... As they were praying they saw a huge pack of foxes (or musang in Malay) running into the cave... At once, they seized their bows and arrows and lay in wait for the foxes... They waited the whole evening but the foxes did not emerge, not even when the storm had stopped... From then on, the inhabitants called the cave Gua Musang.
A month after this strange event, seven young hunters climbed the hill but only one came back alive... He told the villagers that when he and his six companions were halfway up the hill, a length of stone staircase appeared before them... They climbed the staircase and upon reaching the summit they found a tree, under which, stood a bowl of pure water... The young men, with the exception of one, drank the water in the bowl to quench their thirst... Before the others could persuade him to drink, the bowl vanished... They grew afraid and quickly began to descend... Suddenly a blood-chilling cry was heard... The hunter turned quickly but it was too late... His six friends had disappeared from sight... He rushed down the slope but there was no sign of any dead bodies at the bottom of the hill...
He concluded that the "God of the Cave" had taken his friends and had spared him because he had not drunk the water in the bowl... Most of the villagers did not believe the young man's story... They were sure that the other six must have slipped and fallen, but the bodies of the missing hunters were never found... from wikipedia site |
| taman negara at merapoh... |
|  | What Is In Gua Musang For You Gua Musang is a small town in the remote area of southern Kelantan... Most Malaysians only know that its MP is none other than Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah... Others have only heard of its famous railway station by the limestone hills that is the hallmark of the the town and its surrounding areas...
Gua Musang is the northern gateway to Taman Negara (or National Park), which is situated in Merapoh... The park headquarters serves as a popular starting point for those who want to climb Gunung Tahan (the highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia)...
Gua Musang is surrounded by limestone hills and caves, which have become popular with cavers and rock climbers...
The Guanyin temple is Kampung Pulai is also worth a visit...
River rafting on the Nenggiri River is accessible from Gua Musang... There is also a rafting race, called Nenggiri Challenge... There are also archaeological sites in caves, such as Gua Cha, Chawan and Jaya, which are situated along the river...
The Gua Musang Golf Club is the only golf club in Gua Musang... |
| | Kampung Pulai and The Battle of Ulu Semur Kampung Pulai is a traditional Hakka village located some 12km from Gua Musang... It was reported that the Hakka Chinese came to settle in this village more than 600 years ago... The early Hakka settlers went there for gold... The villagers still maintain a very traditional Hakka culture... The village was almost cut off from the outside world as the first tarred road that leads from Gua Musang to this undeveloped town was only built in 1988...
All activities in the village centers around a Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy) temple called shuiyuegong (or the water and moon temple) which is said to be the oldest temple in the country... The guanyin temple itself is some 600 years old...
The village is now taken over by Thai muslims who settle here to work on the rubber holdings... Rubber tapping is the main occupation here... The Hakka youths have emigrated to big towns for better employment opportunities, much to the chagrin of the elders who still stay in the village...
Kampung Pulai is also near the place where the infamous Battle of Ulu Semur was fought between Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA or Malayan Communist Party) and the 3rd Battalion (The Malay Regiment) & 16 Malay Special Constables on 25 March 1950 during the Malayan Emergency (1948-60)... The soldiers and constables were deployed to guard villagers from Kampung Pulai who need to go into deep jungle to collect attap for building a makeshift hall for the Guanyin's birthday on the 19th day of the 2nd moon...
The soldiers and constables were ambushed and 18 soldiers of the Malay platoon were killed, six wounded and three were captured alive by the MRLA... They also rounded up 7 constables who were separated at the river crossing... The leader of the MRLA, after giving a lecture to the captured survivors, told them to go home and leave the army and the police... Carrying their wounded comrade in arms the soldiers and the constables left the battle scene for Kampung Pulai... The celebration of the Goddess of Mercy's birthday was canceled...
Later the British Authorities, by digging up the graves made by the MRLA, found that 29 soldiers of the MRLA were killed in the encounter... |
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