<< Text Pages >> Cherok Tokun - Carving in Malaysia
Submitted by XIII on Tuesday, 06 December 2016 Page Views: 2501
Multi-periodSite Name: Cherok Tokun Alternative Name: Batu Bersurat Cherok Tokun, Cherok Tokun RelicsCountry: Malaysia Type: Carving
Nearest Town: Bukit Mertajam
Latitude: 5.352123N Longitude: 100.476684E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Carving in Malaysia
The Cherok Tokun relics are ancient inscriptions on a rock in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Also called Batu Bersurat Cherok Tokun, it is the only ancient megalith in Penang, Malaysia, as recognised by the Malaysian Department of Museum and Antiquities. It is also regarded as the southernmost relic of the ancient civilization of Bujang Valley. The granite megalith is located at the foot of Bukit Mertajam, within the compound of the St Anne Church. To reach it, walk across the driveway from the new St Anne Church.
The Cherok Tokun ancient inscriptions were first documented by Colonel James Low, a British army officer, in 1845. In his log, Low recorded his disappointment of not finding a more spectacular ruin, expecting to find an ancient temple ruin. He documented what he made out to be "a group of seven inscriptions". The inscriptions were believed to be in pre-Pallava script and written in Sanskrit. They were attributed to the ancient Kingdom of Kadaaram, which flourished in northern Malaysia in the 5th to 6th centuries. However, according to J Laidlay, who translated the text in 1848, the inscription was Pali, not Sanskrit.
source and more information:
Penang Traveltips
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
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