Kuala Kangsar
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The royal town of Kuala Kangsar (population 34,690) is a small town located at the mouth of the Kangsar River, where it flows into the Perak River in Perak, Malaysia. The Sultan of Perak officially resides here. The town of Kuala Kangsar is also the main town in the district of Kuala Kangsar.
Kuala Kangsar has been the royal seat since the 18th century. It is also the location of the first British Resident in the Malay Peninsula. By the 1890s, the growth of the tin mining towns of Ipoh and Taiping had eclipsed Kuala Kangsar, but it remains to this day one of the most attractive of the Malay royal capitals.
A nearby village called Sayong (located on the opposite bank of the Perak River) is the production center of the famed labu sayong (traditional earthenware container). A bridge now connects Kuala Kangsar to Sayong. Previously, people had to use small ferry boats (still in operation) to cross the river or drive across a bridge located several kilometers away along the old highway to Ipoh.
The first Malaysian scout troop was established in Kuala Kansar. The scout squad here is numbered 001.
The town is also the site of the first rubber tree planted in Malaysia. The person responsible for this was the English botanist Henry Nicholas Ridley. He was also the one that helped Malaya, become the largest rubber producer in the world. The tree still stands till today.
Kuala Kangsar has also marked its name in the Malaysian history as the site where the first Malay Rulers Conference was held in 1897.
A few prominent landmarks in Kuala Kangsar are:
- Malay College Kuala Kangsar
- Kenangan Palace (Istana Kenangan)
- Iskandariah Palace (Istana Iskandariah)
- Hulu Palace (Istana Hulu)
- Ubudiah Mosque
External link
- Ubudiah Mosque (http://www.kangsar.com)de:Kuala Kangsar