Historical urban landscape, national identity and edutainment in Bujang Valley Archaeotourism site

• Main Authors: Md Zain, Mazarina, Baniyamin, Nurhaya, Ibrahim, Mansor, Jahn Kassim, Puteri Shireen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Academia Industry Networks 2022
• Subjects: H51 History
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/100394/7/100394_Historical%20urban%20landscape.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/100394/; http://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ijssr

Malaysia is rich in heritage, primarily archaeological sites, historical buildings, monuments, artifacts, tangible, and intangible traditional and cultural heritage elements. Archaeotourism is one of the heritage tourism activities which is growing rapidly and attracts many visitors to the Malaysian tourism industry nowadays. In alluring visitors to the destination, an archaeological site must offerings an extraordinary experiential and continually develop meaningful as an enticement to increase the numbers of visitors. Heritage urban landscape in archaeotourism can promote and instil national identity and pride in the country’s heritage among the local community and visitors from abroad. The paper uses the early kingdom of Malay Peninsula, Bujang Valley archaeology site, which rich with the uniqueness of temples, Budish- Hindu statues, and discovery of the remains archaeology artifact such as ceramics, beads, stone tools, and pillar based. Bujang Valley located in Kuala Muda, Kedah state, northern side of Malaysia, as a potential case study to highlight digitizing its resources in heritage urban landscape including its temple monuments - as an example of multicultural national content in heritage management and edutainment. The urban form and setting of the early town were studied based on a literature review to identify the physical and historical attributes of each cultural and heritage element in Bujang Valley comprises the origin of the town, natural physical landform, architectural influences, and significance in historical values. A storyboard and heritage trail are developed based on the layering of its historical and multicultural elements. This study emphasizes that by determining the historical significance of heritage towns, its elements can be used for digital heritage conservation and preservation for ruined archaeology sites by allowing the past to be virtualised in real-world as an edutainment approach to embrace education and enjoyment for the intellectual, emotional, and aesthetical reasons for developing national identity and promoting heritage sites in the Malaysian tourism industry.