Seri Menanti Palace Malaysia: Malay Architectural Gem
The Langkawi sky bridge may be a symbol of modern architectural achievement of Malaysia, but even century back Malays had acquired mastery over unique architectural skills. The evidence for this is an old wooden palace, Istana Lama Seri Menanti.
Constructed during 1902 to 1908, this timber palace today has been turned to a royal museum and the unique feature of this palace that caught my attention while reading about this palace is that “it was constructed without using a single metal nail”.
Wood carving was an essential skill in the earlier days and Malays had perfected this skill to such extent that the huge traditional wooden palaces they built for rulers stand strong even today. Most of them are held as private properties, the only one accessible to tourists is Istana Seri Menanti.
It is a four storey building designed by two local Malay carpenters. Not a single metal nail has been used for its construction, the structure held together purely with mortise-and-tenon joints and hardwood dowels and rivets.
Seri Menanti Palace Malaysia
The wooden palace is located amidst scenic surroundings, paddy fields and lush green forests, in the royal town of Seri Menanti in Negeri Sembilan state, just two hours away from Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
The roof-line of the palace con-caved upwards resembles the majestic sweep of a buffalo’s horns, very symbolic of the local Minangkabau culture. Its 99 pillars are worth mentioning: each of the pillars dedicated to 99 famous warriors of the state. The pillars are filled with intricate designs, themed on flowers, holy Quran, and various geometric designs.
The beach destinations around does overshadow the significance of this palace, but definitely this is one ‘must see palace’ before time leaves its irreversible changes in the building!
Stupenda!! ciao
NOW i want to go there tooooooo.. if my bank balance goes to Zero I am going ot blame you .. he he he he 🙂 showing such beautiful places and making me want to go there he he he he
thank you mam.
Bikram's
Beautiful!
Interesting palace.
Beautiful Architecture
great palace…
“it was constructed without using a single metal nail”. – amazing creation
thanks
Beautiful palace and you had the perfect sky to photograph it against.
What an incredible place!
Great post.. Thanks for photo and info
Lovely structure, all done with wood.
A cute photo!
Greetings from Poland 🙂
a beautiful place~
This is a beautiful building — it's hard to believe that it was built without any metal nails at all. I hope it continues to stand for a very long time.
Very informative post and excellent photo ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^
That would have been quite a feat to build without using a single metal nail!
What a beautiful architecture !
It is a beautiful palace! Thanks for sharing this lovely place. Happy Sunday!
Wow! That is so amazing
Hugs
SueAnn
That is amazing!
That's a beautiful building!
I haven't seen this. Marking this for my next visit.
Your posts make me feel like I haven't seen anything in Malaysia. 😐
What a fantastic building and your capture is the next best thing to being there! I love the brilliant yellow color and those lovely skies! Hope your weekend is going well, Indrani!! Enjoy!
Thank you for showing us such wonders. I want to visit Malaysia.
President Obama is visiting Asia!
Aloha from Honolulu, Dear Indrani
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