֍stoɾiesoftm

Research Still In Progress By Mr.Ganesan (Kajian Lapangan Geografi Fizikal)

KOTA GELANGGI – AN ANCIENT HINDU KINGDOM BASED IN JOHOR LOST AND FORGOTTEN (excerpted from Johor The lost cityblogspot) Did anyone tell you this? In 2005, The Star newspaper reported that a lost city of the Sri Vijaya Empire was found by a local researcher Raimy Che-Ross. Raimy’s findings were published in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 2004.

It was an old Malay manuscript once owned by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, in a London library that led Raimy Che-Ross to the existence of the lost city in Johor. According to Raimy, the presence of a lost city in the jungles at the southern end of the Malay peninsula had been indicated in Malayan forklore for over four centuries. “I have verified all the information by reviewing and reassessing old colonial records and travellers tales,” he said. Raimy adds that official Japanese records noted that an Imperial Crown Prince of Japan, Prince Takaoka, Shinnyo Hosshinno, reportedly met his death in Lo-Yue after being attacked by a tiger. Perhaps we may find his tomb here,” he said.

A 1,000-year-old lostcity, possibly older than Angkor Wat in Cambodiaand Borobudur in Indonesia, is believed to have been located in the dense jungles of Johor In his paper, he said the place was raided by the South Indian Tamil  Chola Kingdoms RAJA RAJENDRA CHOLAVARMAN I, in 1025A.D. “From the air I could see formations which looked like a set of double-walls, protecting the inner city. “Hinduism and Buddhist statues and figurines may exist but what I hope to find is epigraphic inscriptions (writings on granite),” he added. Kota Gelanggi was mainly a trading post, but also a centre of sacred learning, he said.

 

The Srivijaya maritime and commercial kingdom flourished between theseventh and the 13th centuries in the Malay archipelago.

 

The kingdom, which originated in Palembang on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, soon extended its influence and based its power on control of the international sea trade. According to Raimy, he was told that the museum had earlier sent teams to locate the site but had failed each time.  

The most recent attempt saw their boat capsizing thrice, leading the team to abandon the mission. Now the lost city is a forest reserve. And no one can enter without the permission of the authorities. Though museum authorities, on the other hand, have indicated interest in studying Kota Gelanggi but nothing much has transpired since then.

Lack of funds, inaccessibility, possibility of different locations  have been cited till date to undertake a serious study.  It sad to see that there is so much of obstacle to explore & preserve our hidden history.