Day Trip to Alor Setar - Kedah Royal Museum

 

The next free place we visited was the Kedah Royal Museum. Alor Setar was the capital of the Kedah. The museum was just at the dataran, so very convenient to visit. From the outside, it looked like a rather small traditional house. But as we enter into it, I was amazed at how big the space inside the house was. It was after all, an istana (palace) long time ago....

Some info on the museum. 

The entrance is at the back. You have to take of your shoes to go in. And apart from this hall above, no photography was allowed inside the museum. I thought that was a shame, cause I thought the collection here was quite good and informative. I spend quite some time exploring the museum. The rooms and corridors seems to never end. Although quite small and compact, it also felt quite spacious and never ending. Plus, the aircon here was fabulous! 

Some myth and background story of the royal family. 

Outside the museum, there are some area where the staff stayed. 

And I read that the mosque was build directly in front of the istana so that it was the first thing you will see when you walk out the main gate. I though that was cool, so I went to take a photograph of it. I think it makes a nice souvenir shot :)

The bigger building in front of the museum, is actually the grand hall, or Dewan Besar. It is used for official functions, and it's not open to public. The photo above, is actually taken at the back side of the grand hall. I think the stair case looks beautiful. I thought it was a pity they closed the building up. I've sure it's lovely inside as well. 

This is what the front of the Dewan look like. I actually thought this was the museum itself, because it was the larger of the two buildings. 

This is the front view. Again, beautiful circular staircase leading up to the second floor. The tiled floors were beautiful too. And the artistic carving of the pillars and roof was exquisite.

Guess that's all. There are toilets and vending machine just below the museum. You could even sit down or take a nap here as my friend did.... -_______-

Lastly, here's me with my favourite most of Kedah! There is actually more to explore in Kedah, specifically the state museum, and also the paddy museum. So maybe I'll be back soon!