At the extreme point of land at the mouth of the Selangor river is a small village called Kampong Tanjung Keramat. Here you can find two of Kuala Selangor’s historic tourist attractions.
A Keramat (or Kramat) is a holy place or place of pilgrimage, often a grave but not necessarily so and there are many of these all over Malaysia.
The one in this village is called Makam Keramat Anak Dara (The Virgin’s Grave) or Keramat Rubiah.
It sits on a small rocky hill, the sides of which have steepened by quarrying. The only way up to the Keramat is via a flight of rickety wooden steps which have seen better days.
As you risk the steps it will be wise to avoid the monkeys normally sitting half way up.
Keramat Rubiah
The gate at the top is padlocked but there is not much to see anyway. The “grave” is a white tiled rectangle inside the walled structure.
The signboard outside relates the story of an 18-year-old girl, Siti Aishah, who ran away from home to avoid a forced marriage.
She was never found but her clothes were left hanging from a tree at this spot and her parents decided to build a shrine in her honour there.
Tasik Shima
Behind the Keramat is a lake popular with fishermen. It was apparently formed as a result of excavations by the Japanese during World War II.
This would probably account for its name, Lake Shima or Japanese for “island”.
A stone’s throw from here is the other tourist attraction, Tanjung Keramat Fort or Bukit Belanda, translated literally as “Dutch Hill”.
This is a larger hill and the site of a fort originally built by Sultan Ibrahim, the second Sultan of Selangor, who reigned from 1782-1826.
It was captured by the Dutch in 1784 and renamed Fort Utrecht.
Unfortunately the maintenance here appears to be behind in their schedule and the site is in need of a good grass cutting so you are not advised to explore for fear of stepping on a snake.
The ramparts of this fort would once have been bristling with cannons but some of these weapons have found their way to the neighbouring village where they are now garden ornaments.
This article first appeared in ThriftyTtraveller