Probably this was the most important day of our visit. We entered Kelantan and into Kandis district. After a night sleep at a humble resort looking out to a very beautiful beach, we took off to only about less than a kilometer away to Kandis Resource Center. This place is run by Puan Rosnawati Othman, the wife of the late Nik Rasyidin who is an avid woodcarver and a keris aficionado.
We met Puan Rosnawati, had sit in her meeting room where we discussed about our project. It has been an interesting session and it went along until noon accompanied by
some refreshments. Only the best was saved for later, we then climbed up into her gallery.the thing that brought here is knowing that the late nik rashidin was a strong believer of the langkasukan legacy. we wanted to find out what the person dearest to him had to say about it. it turned out that the very foundation of Kandis Resource centre is standing on the firm believe that Langkasuka was in fact reigned supreme in the 11th century, could as well been much earlier than that. She explained to us that the essence of langkasuka can be found on motives most profound in carvings. They call it gulung dan lentik, which describes the special flow of the curvature in a motive. Even Kandis logo itself is based on this philosophy.
The whole day was like a history lecture by Puan Rosnawati. But it is far from boring. She took us on a tour through her gallery, library and her another gallery. So, what have we got from this lecture, err... visit? Nik Rashidin's legacy is an inspiration. Sadly we were not allowed to photograph items in the library. We still did, but we wont publish them here. If keris is your thing, you really should come here. The late Nik Rashidin left a numerous collection of hulu keris or keris hilt made by himself. Some even acquired from various historical site around Malay archipelago for his research. I found the book Spirit of Wood by Farish A. Noor and Eddin Khoo is a good read that covers a bunch of information about Malay woodcarving and history, including works of Nik Rashidin himself.
What was she talking about? These silhouettes giving me goosebumps
Part of Kandis Resource Centre. Also a gallery and a private residence
Contact
Puan Rosnawati Othman
Address: Kandis Resource Centre, Lot 225, Kampung Kandis, Telong, 16310, Bachok, Kelantan
Phone: (609) 778-8104
Website: http://www.semangatkayu.com
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