Bukit Marak (literally Shining Hill) is a village in

Bachok District Bachok District (Jawi: باچوق ) is an administrative division (or jajahan) of Kelantan, Malaysia. It is located approximately 25 km east of Kota Bharu. The population is predominantly Malay, with Chinese and Siamese minorities. Bachok ...

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in th ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, located about south of the state capital

Kota Bharu Kota Bharu, colloquially referred to as KB, is a town in Malaysia that serves as the state capital and royal seat of Kelantan. It is situated in the northeastern part of Peninsular Malaysia and lies near the mouth of the Kelantan River. The ...

. It is famous as the childhood home of Puteri Saadong, and thus has great significance in the history of the Sultanate of Kelantan. The village derives its name from a local hill, one of the last hillocks in the district. The hill has some attractions for tourists, and draws thousands of visitors every weekend both for hiking and for sightseeing. Among these are a famous pool in which Puteri Saadong was believed to have bathed, and three

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

rocks at the peak of the hill resembling Puteri Saadong's favourite musical instrument. However, the hill is being negatively affected by excavation of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

for use in land reclamation; local villagers are said to be selling soil from the hill at RM40 for one lorry-load. Aside from the damage to the historical site, this also may introduce the danger of mudslides and landslides during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

season. The state government has offered to purchase the hill from its owners in accordance with the National Heritage Act 2005, in order to prevent further damage.

References

Bachok District Villages in Kelantan {{Kelantan-geo-stub