WHAT NEXT WILL BN DESTROY! Kedah tomb temple to be rebuilt - Mukhriz

ALOR SETAR - A centuries-old tomb temple (candi) in the Bujang Valley is to be rebuilt after the structure was levelled to make way for development.

Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Paduka Mukhriz Mahathir said the candi could be built again at the original site in the Sungai Batu Estate or the nearby University Sains Malaysia (USM) excavation site where research work is ongoing.

"The reconstructed structure will be based on research to ensure the shape and materials used are the same as the original," he said in a media statement today.

Public outcry over the destruction of candi 11, as the structure is known, in August this year, has been immense since media reports started surfacing.

The candi was discovered by British explorers in 1920 and was reconstructed by the then Museum Department in 1974.

Historians believe an advanced civilisation had thrived in the area long before the Sri Vijaya (700AD) and Majapahit (1200AD) empires as more than 100 such structures have been unearthed since the first one was discovered by the British in 1845.

In a related development, Mukhriz said his administration has applied to the Tourism and Culture Ministry to have similar sites in the state gazetted.

He said the state was serious in ensuring all forms of heritage in Kedah were not destroyed by time or development.

"The ministry has agreed to consider our request for these places to be gazetted and protected," he said.

He added that restoration and excavation works would continue in the valley to develop its potential as a tourist attraction. - The Sundaily