Gunung Gading National Park

Gunung Gading

Gunung Gading National Park has a very special star attraction - the Rafflesia, the world’s largest flower - and the park is one of the best places in Asia to view the Rafflesia’s spectacular blooms. Gunung Gading sprawls across four jungle-clad mountain peaks, and its dense primary rainforest is criss-crossed by crystal clear streams and waterfalls.

The Rafflesia, the world’s largest flower, is a parasitic plant found only in Southeast Asia, and then only in sub-montane hilly forests at elevations between 400-1,300 metres. Sir Stamford Raffles and Dr Joseph Arnold were the first Europeans to discover the Rafflesia. In 1818, whilst on a field trip near the town of Bencoolen (Bengkulu) in Sumatra, they came across a huge specimen that measured 97 cm in diameter. This species was later named the Rafflesia Arnoldi. When news of the discovery reached the botanical community in 1820 it caused quite a sensation with murmurings of disbelief.

There are thought to be 17 species of Rafflesia, some of which may already be extinct.he Rafflesia is as unusual as it is spectacular. Much of the flower’s biology remains a mystery to this day. It has no specific flowering season and it has no roots, leaves or stem. The Rafflesia depends on a host vine - the tetrastigma, a member of the grape family. Scientists are still unsure why the Rafflesia associates itself with the tetrastigma vine or how the seeds of a Rafflesia germinate and grow. What is known is that threads of tissue spread out within the vine and absorb nutrients. After 18 months a small dark brown bud appears.

Rafflesia flowers are either male or female, and therefore cannot self-pollinate. For pollination to take place, a male and a female flower must bloom at the same time and pollen must be transported over considerable distances. In the Rafflesia’s case pollination is carried out by carrion flies, so whilst in full bloom the Rafflesia gives off a foul smell of decaying flesh to attract them. Seeds are thought to be dispersed by rodents and other small mammals which eat the flowers. Scientists remain baffled, however, as to how the tiny seeds infest the roots and stems of the host vine.

Tools for War

The ancient tools for war.

"Trabai" sheild

 Parang 

Enemies's Skull that were hang at the long house

They are head hunters pride.

Traditional Handcraft & Art

Handicraft and art.

Manik made by Orang Ulu

 Pua Kumbu made by Iban people

Pua Kumbu

Ajat

Ilang

"Tikar"

Rainforest Music Festival

The Rainforest World Music Festival is an annual three-day music festival celebrating the diversity of world music, held in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, with daytime music workshops, cultural displays, craft displays, food stalls, and main-stage evening concerts. It is now one of the largest musical events in Malaysia with a total weekend audience approaching 30,000. 

Traditional foods

These are traditional cakes and foods in Sarawak. 

"Kuih Jala"

Celorot

"Kuih Sepit"

Penyaram

Tebaloi

Go info about Musical Instruments

The most typical of Sarawak musical instruments, the sape, pronounced “sa-peh”, is a traditional lute of the Orang Ulu community or “upriver people” of central Borneo. It is traditionally used by the Kenyahs, Kayans and Kelabit tribes.

Carved from a bole of white wood which repels insects, the sape is a masterpiece of woodcarving. The carver, usually a musician, hollows out the body of the sape with similar tools used in boat-building to a length of about over a metre, and approximately 40cm wide.

Sape

Set of Gongs

Dumbak and Gong

Dayak's Traditional Custume & Races

There are a lots of different kind of races in Sarawak. Therefore we are unique and we live in harmony. 

Estimated population: 2,357,500 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2006)

Ethnicity: Iban, Bidayuh, Chinese, Malay

First language/s: Iban, Bidayuh, Malay, Hakka, Hokchiu, Cantonese, Hokkien

Religion/s: Christianity, Animism, Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism

Sarawak has a population of almost 2.5 million, made up of some 26 different ethnic groups. The non-Muslim indigenous groups are collectively called Dayaks – most of whom are Christians or practise animist beliefs – and they account for about 40 per cent of Sarawak’s inhabitants. The two biggest ethnic groups within the Dayak community are the Iban (also known as Sea Dayaks), who constitute just over 31 per cent of the population, and the Bidayuh; others include the Kenyah, Kayan, Kedayan, Murut, Punan, Bisayah, Kelabit, Berawan and Penan. Dayaks who live in the interior of Sarawak are sometimes referred to as Orang Ulu, or people from the interior. Members of this group typically live in longhouses and practise shifting cultivation; they engage in fishing to supplement their diet if they live near a river. Only a few hundred of the Eastern Penan continue to live as a nomadic people of the rainforest.

The Chinese, at around 30 per cent, make up the second largest ethnic group in Sarawak, though they themselves can be subdivided as including speakers of Hakka, Fu-chou (Hokchiu), Cantonese and Hokkien. Most live in urban areas and are Buddhists or Christians or practise Taoism.

The number of Malays has increased to about 25 per cent of Sarawak’s population. They are in fact a heterogeneous group of people since many are probably the descendants of indigenous peoples who started to convert to Islam from the fifteenth century and become Malay through their adoption of the Malay language. Like the Chinese, they constitute a large percentage of the coastal and urban population.

Iban

Bidayuh

 

Melanau

Orang Ulu