Surau built atop Gunung Keriang provides comfortable place to pray for Muslim visitors
The initiative to construct the surau was implemented by the Komuniti Keriang Hill members in an effort to enable visitors to worship while on their leisure activities as well as to attract more visitors to the mountain.
ALOR SETAR - Muslims going mountain climbing in Gunung Keriang here now have a comfortable place to perform their prayers after a small surau has been built atop the mountain, at a height of 217 metres above sea level.
The initiative to construct the surau was implemented by the Komuniti Keriang Hill (KKH) members in an effort to enable visitors to worship while on their leisure activities as well as to attract more visitors to the mountain.
KKH member Mohd Asri Baharom, 58, said the club which was established in 2019 has now more than 60 members, with their ages ranging from 15 to 68, who are from various backgrounds. There are doctors, photographers, retirees and even students among them.
"Initially, we all did not know each other...but all this changed as we frequently went on our mountain climbing activities. We then set up the club and it began to be active carrying out various efforts for visitors,” he told reporters at Gunung Keriang here today.
"Previously, we cleared the bushy area on top of the mountain to allow visitors to enjoy a 360-degree view... Soon social media sites began to feature Gunung Keriang, thus attracting more visitors especially during the weekends.
Asri, an assistant librarian at the Kedah State Public Library, said looking at the increasing number of visitors, the KKH members built the small surau in early June in a collaborative effort and it only took less than a month to complete.
"Club members contributed towards buying building materials such as steel and wood. There were also other parties who contributed towards the total building cost which amounted to RM800. Among us, we have good craftsmen who played an important role in this project,” he said, adding that the surau can accommodate 10 people at a time.
"Meanwhile, other members contributed their energy by carrying up the building materials regardless of the weather conditions, whether it was raining or hot, as we wanted to complete the surau as soon as possible to allow visitors to use the facility.”
Asri called on visitors to take advantage of the surau and sought their cooperation to maintain the cleanliness there for the comfort of visitors so that they can worship without hesitation. - BERNAMA
