Bukit Choras

Among the diversions in my life, I retain a small fascination for archaeology news. Perhaps it stemmed from watching films such as The Exorcist all those decades ago. Or perhaps the Indiana Jones movies. Whatever, I do visit archaeology sites whenever I have the opportunity. Earlier this year together with a group of people, we managed to visit the Bujang Valley museum and the Sungai Merbok old jetty, both dating back around a thousand years or so. The Bujang Valley was a revisit but it still held much interest for me. 

Last September, there was the report of a significant archaeological discovery at Bukit Choras, north of Kedah Peak. Previously, these old Buddhist temple sites were found south of the mountain. Thus, the Bukit Choras dig was the first time that archaeologiests had discovered one so far north, 

Is Bukit Choras considered part of the greater Bujang Valley archaeological area? One thing for sure, Bujang Valley does not have a fixed geographic border. It relies on archaeological findings, expanding from 200km² to over 1000km². Bukit Choras should now mark the northern boundary, Cheruk To' Kun in Mainland Penang the southern, Pedu Lake the eastern and the western border extends to the shore facing the Straits of Malacca.

This is the story in The New Straits:

Largest Buddhist temple structure unearthed in Bukit Choras, dating back 1,200 years

By Adie Zulkifli - September 22, 2023 @ 2:18pm

YAN: The National Heritage Department and Universiti Sains Malaysia's Global Archaeology Research Centre (GARC) have announced the discovery of the largest Buddhist temple structure in Bukit Choras, dating back 1,200 years.

The team led by GARC chief researcher Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw has also discovered two well-preserved life-sized statues made of stucco (a type of plaster), with architectures identical to ancient Srivijaya Kingdom artifacts discovered in Sumatra and West Java, Indonesia.

National Heritage Department commissioner Mohd Azmi Mohd Yusof hailed the finding following two-week excavation works that began on Aug 28, as the most significant archaeology discovery in the country since the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The most unique feature about this discovery is that most of the artifacts are still intact, the temple still retaining its full structure.

"We hope to make more discoveries to bring elements into Kedah civilisation besides adding a new archaeo-tourism product in the state.

"This is the first discovery under a pilot project following an MoU signed between the department and 11 local universities," he said in a press conference after visiting the site today.

Present were USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Ir Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed, GARC director Professor Dr Stephen Chia and Nasha.

He added that the excavation works as of Sept 8 had exposed the whole western wall of the temple and half of its northern and southern walls, as well as staircase structures on its base.

"The team has also discovered inscriptions in Pallava and fragments of pottery. The site is believed to be built between the 8th and 9th century A.D, positioning it on a similar timeline with Bujang Valley and Srivijaya period.

"The statues and artifacts discovered from the site will be taken back to GARC USM for conservation and further research," he said.

The second phase of the excavation works on the remaining structure of the temple is set to resume by December.

USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Ir Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed said the university would continue working with the National Heritage Department to carry out more excavation works at archaeological sites to further expand archaeo-tourism products.

"There are many that are still to be explored in Bujang Valley as we need more time to carry out excavation works.

"More importantly, these discoveries shall enable us to review historical events written by the western historians," he said.

Meanwhile, Nasha said the findings had raised new questions on the cultural relationship between Lembah Bujang and other ancient civilisations in Southeast Asia.

"This site is special because most of the archaeology sites were discovered in Bujang Valley that are located south of Gunung Jerai, namely along Sungai Merbok and Sungai Muda.

"Bukit Choras is the only site located in the north of Gunung Jerai and totally isolated. We were surprised by the discovery of the biggest Buddhist ancient temple site.

"This suggests that there was a huge population nearby this hill which used to be cape prior to the sedimentation process which pushed the current coastline to some 8km away from here. We hope to make more discoveries soon," he said.

The story in The Star: 

Ancient inscription, two statues discovered at Bukit Choras dig site in Kedah

By IMRAN HILMY, Friday, 22 Sep 2023 5:31 PM MYT

ALOR SETAR: Two near-perfect statues and an ancient inscription in Pallava have been discovered during an archaeological excavation at the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site in Yan here.

The discovery by the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) and the National Heritage Department (NHD) took place during excavation and research works at the summit of Bukit Choras between Aug 28 and Sept 12.

USM CGAR senior lecturer Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, who led the excavation works, said the finds from the temple site could date back to around the eighth or ninth century AD, which is the same as most of the temple sites in the Bujang Valley, and the development period of the Srivijaya Empire.

Pallava refers to a dynasty of south India, flourishing around the sixth to eighth century AD. It also had a writing system which spawned almost all the language scripts in South-East Asia.

"The uniqueness of the temple at this archaeological site is firstly how it has been preserved, we can see that the condition of the walls in the north, west and south areas are well-preserved.

"Secondly, we found two human-sized structures made out of stucco... and the discovery of stucco has not been reported in the Bujang Valley but only in Sumatra and Java," Nasha said at a press conference on Friday (Sept 22).

The Bukit Choras Archaeological Site, which was designated as a heritage site under the National Heritage Act 2005 in December 2016, has now proven its historical significance beyond doubt.

This collaborative project, initiated following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NHD and public universities, has brought to light previously hidden treasures.

Nasha said based on preliminary research, there is a similarity between the temple architecture in Bukit Choras and that of temples in West Java and Sumatra, at the same time raising questions about the cultural relationship between Kedah Tua and other sites in South-East Asia.

He said the temple is estimated to measure nine square metres but the actual size can only be confirmed after the excavation work is done, which is currently at 40% completion.

He said the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site is considered to be special due to its isolated position north of Gunung Jerai, whereas the other archaeological sites in the Bujang Valley are mostly situated south of Gunung Jerai in the areas around Sungai Merbok and Sungai Muda.

He, however, said his team still needed time to do more research, perhaps over several years, and this must be done on-site before any conclusion can be made about the ancient site.

He also hoped his team can provide more information and data to add value to the history of Kedah Tua.

He added that the temple is also the biggest ever found in the Bujang Valley and it had interesting architecture.

USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed said the university would continue working with NHD to carry out more excavation works at archaeological sites to further expand archaeo-tourism products.

He said the research team had been conducting excavations at the sites in Bujang Valley since 10 years ago with funds from the Higher Education Ministry.

The Star also carried this follow-up story a day later:

Unearthing more clues about the Pallava dynasty

Saturday, 23 Sep 2023

ALOR SETAR: Two almost-perfect statues and an ancient inscription from the Pallava dynasty have been discovered during an archaeological excavation at the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site in Yan.

The discovery by the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) and the National Heritage Department (NHD) took place at the summit of Bukit Choras between Aug 28 and Sept 12.

USM CGAR senior lecturer Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw, who led the excavation, said the find from the temple site could date back to around the 8th or 9th century AD, which is the same as most of the temple sites in the Bujang Valley, and development period of the Srivijaya Empire.

“The uniqueness of this temple at this archaeological site is firstly, how it has been preserved and the condition of the walls in the north, west and south areas.

“Secondly, we found two human-sized structures made out of stucco... and the discovery of stucco has not been reported in the Bujang Valley but only in Sumatra and Java,” he said yesterday.

The Pallava dynasty, which flourished around the 6th to 8th century AD, introduced its writing to South-East Asia, resulting in many communities using modified versions of the script such as the Kawi used by the Balinese, Bugis, Javanese and Sundanese, Lanna, Tham and Khom of Thailand, the Pyu in Burma, the Khmer in Cambodia and the Cham in Vietnam.

The Bukit Choras Archaeological Site, which was designated a heritage site under the National Heritage Act 2005 in December 2016, has now brought to light previously hidden treasures.

Nasha said based on preliminary research, there is a similarity between the temple architecture in Bukit Choras and that of the temples in West Java and Sumatra, raising questions about the cultural relationship between Kedah Tua and other sites in South-East Asia.

‘The temple is estimated to measure nine square metres, but the actual size can only be confirmed after the excavation work is done, which is currently 40% complete.”

He said the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site is considered special due to its isolated position north of Gunung Jerai, whereas the other archaeological sites in Bujang Valley are mostly situated south of Gunung Jerai around Sungai Merbok and Sungai Muda.

“My team still needs time to do more on-site research, perhaps for several years, before any conclusion can be made about the ancient site.

“I hope we can provide more information and data that can add value to the history of Kedah Tua.

“This temple is also the biggest ever found in Bujang Valley and has an interesting architecture,” he added.

USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed said the university would continue working with the NHD to carry out more excavation at archaeological sites to further expand archaeo-tourism products.

He said the research team has been conducting excavations at the archaeological sites in Bujang Valley for the last 10 years and has been doing it with funds from the Higher Education Ministry.

“We are working with the NHD and other relevant agencies on how to develop our archaeo-tourism and with this discovery, our history can be improved,” he said.

Sinar Daily had this take on the discovery:

Two Buddha statues were found on Choras Hill

22 Sep 2023 06:42pm

YAN - The National Heritage Department (JWN) in collaboration with the Global Archaeological Research Center (PPAG) of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) managed to find two Buddhist sculptures complete with inscriptions.

PPAG Senior Lecturer Dr. Nasha Rodzaidi Khaw said the discovery happened during research work at the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site which started on August 28 to Sept 12.

She said the archaeological excavation revealed a larger and complete temple structure by showing half of the north and south parts and the entire west wall.

"The foot part of the temple shows a stair arrangement and has an orientation that coincides with the direction of the wind.

"The sculpture that was found was worn and broken," she said at the location of the Bukit Choras Archaeological Site, here on Friday.

At the site, Nasha also found an inscription in Pallava script as well as pottery fragments.

"This site is quite special because most of the Bujang Valley archeological sites are located south of Mount Jerai, around the Merbok River, Buda River while the Bukit Choras site is the only site located north of Mount Jerai.

"It stands alone and around it we found the site. We were surprised by the discovery of a large temple because for a large temple to exist, it must have a large population as well. So this opens up various forms of potential for future studies," she said.

Nasha said that the structure of the temple also has similarities with the Batu Jaya Site in West Java and leads to a dating that matches the Srivijaya period.

"For that, carbon dating studies and chronometric techniques, namely optical stimulation luminescence or OSL, were carried out to obtain the dating of this temple," she said

Meanwhile, Heritage Commissioner Mohd Azmi Mohd Yusof said the site in question was gazetted as a heritage site under the National Heritage Act 2005 on 28 December 2016.

"This excavation is a pilot project in the field of research and education following the Memorandum of Understanding that JWN signed with the public university last March.

"We have made many discoveries and hope that with this discovery we can redefine everything," he said.

BNN Breaking had their own take on the discovery:

Unearthing History: The Largest Buddhist Temple from Ancient Malay Peninsula

By: BNN Correspondents

Published: September 23, 2023 at 3:20 pm EST | Updated: Sep 26, 2023 at 10:41 pm EST

Historic Discovery in Kedah

The recent excavation led by the National Heritage Department and Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Global Archaeology Research Centre (GARC) unearthed a significant historical gem in Bukit Choras, Yan, Kedah. The discovery, a Buddhist temple believed to be around 1,200 years old, is now considered the largest of its kind in the region. Historian Ranjit Singh Malhi lauded this significant find as it provides crucial evidence of the Malay Peninsula’s history.

Insights into Cultural and Religious Interactions

Unfolding the layers of history, this ancient Buddhist temple allows researchers to understand the cultural and religious interactions that occurred in the region. The temple’s existence gives a glimpse into the early religious beliefs and practices, emphasizing the influence of Buddhism during that era. Moreover, the temple’s age further illuminates the historical and cultural continuity of the Malay Peninsula, enriching our understanding of its historical timeline.

Archaeological Significance

From an archaeological viewpoint, this finding holds immense value. The temple’s large size and the artifacts discovered within it could offer valuable insights into the region’s architecture, art, and everyday life during that time. This discovery opens up a myriad of opportunities for further research and exploration, enhancing our understanding of the past.

Contributing to Historical Understanding

The discovery stands as a testament to the extensive work and research conducted by the National Heritage Department and GARC. Their diligent efforts have led to a significant contribution to the historical comprehension of the Malay Peninsula and Buddhism’s role in its cultural development.

In Summary

The excavation in Bukit Choras, Yan, Kedah, has led to a pivotal historical and archaeological find. The largest Buddhist temple in the region, believed to be around 1,200 years old, provides substantial evidence of the Malay Peninsula’s history. It offers insights into the early religious practices in the region and opens up avenues for further archaeological research and exploration. As we continue to unearth history, we get a clearer picture of our past, helping us understand our present better and prepare for our future.