"The sharp knife of a short life

I've had just enough time..."


- "If I Die Young" The Band Perry


I see Beauty in many things. And like the ghosts that only speak to you if you notice them, they tell me wondrous tales. With my camera and my thoughts, I captured these as faithfully as I can to share with you. And by doing so, they gave me the reasons. And though the thousand reasons may not all be sweet and some indeed bitter; they are still reasons to live. Come to think about it, that is Life, isn't it?

Thursday 6 December 2012

The Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan.



I've had just enough time to...   take the 110 steps up the leaning tower of Teluk Intan

The Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan against the straight lamp post :)


There is a leaning tower and it is not in Pisa. In the center of the town of Teluk Intan a Pagoda structure rise 25.5m from ground level and tilted slightly to one side. My skeptical friend whom I took to the tower downloaded an app into his smart phone and measured a tilt of 2.8 to 3.0 degrees so it is not an optical illusion. The reason for the tilt is the soft ground on which it is built and the water tank at the top though it is no longer in use.



It reads 2.8 degrees tilt


From the outside, the wooden structure appears to have 8 storeys high but from the inside, you will discover it only has 3 floors with the water tank on top of the third floors. It held enough water for 800 people which used to the entire population of the town when it was built. Today, it has an estimated population 120,00 and is the third largest town in the state of Perak. The tower has a board base of 13m which gradually tapered to a top width of 8.1m. There are 110 steps to the top if you are counting.



A wave from the tower


The popular story of its origin was that a rich merchant consulted a “Feng Shui” (the Chinese system of geomancy) master who advised him to build a large storehouse at a strategic location which has a commanding view of the downriver traffic to increase his influence. The British District Officer upon learning of this got another “Feng Shui” master who advised him to construct the clock tower to counteract the move. Thus, the tower was born from the titanic clashes of the “Feng Shui” masters. But this comes to naught when the Japanese invaded and used the tower as an observation post during the war.

So if you happened to be in Perak, drop into the town of Teluk Intan (Diamond Bay) formerly known as Teluk Anson to the British and pay a visit to the leaning tower of Malaysia.


3 comments:


  1. A 1000 Reasons
    I took this shot from a car. It is easy to show a tilt by aligning the camera slightly but I took the lamp post to benchmark it against to show the angle. The guy who happened to walk by is a bonus. So this is not an optical illusion but an actual tilt. What is an illusion though is that the pagoda is not made up of 8 floors but inside the tower it is actually divided into only three levels not counting the base and the water tank right at the very top of the tower which is one reason why the tower tilted in the first place. :)

    ★ΞSSΞ®®Ξ added this photo to his favorites.

    Sai Achanta
    interesting place! lovely shot.

    ★onasill added this photo to his favorites.
    I feel like a tourist here, which is wonderful and your discriptions and shots are magnificent (read and look) Thank you.

    ★ineedathis added this photo to his favorites.
    Marvelous architecture, well capture dear friend!
    Always pleasure reading and learning from your photos.

    riordanNH (
    Text, image...enjoyed!
    Interesting history.

    ★riordanNH and Geo_grafics added this photo to their favorites.

    Geo_grafics
    I never knew ;)
    Thanks for taking us along !

    henrhyde (gill)
    Great image.
    Wonderful information.

    october blue ( away )
    How interesting that the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa has a counterpart in Teluk Intan! I like its graceful and striking look ......
    This made me think of a variation of an an old phrase ....
    'East is East ...and West is West ...and (sometimes ) the twain shall meet . .
    ★october blue added this photo to their favorites.

    Prozak2012
    Very interesting shot and explanation!
    You're invited to post your buildings photo

    Please send your shot to our group pool and join us if you like
    Wonderful world of buildings

    Prozak2012
    Ti invito a postare questa bellissima foto nel gruppo/You are invited to post this beautiful photo in the group
    FOTOPEDIA by Paul Mor


    ★i_still_believe_in_u and Steve Taylor (Photography) added this photo to their favorites.

    Steve Taylor (Photography) (9 hours ago)
    I would not park to near it

    tehkici
    interesting story, very nice place ..

    ReplyDelete

  2. A 1000 Reasons
    The architect is interesting and is Chinese influenced but then the British add a clock to it and it becomes a clock tower. Do you know of any other pagoda that is also a clock tower? Let me know if you do. I wonder if either Feng Shui (the Arts of Wind & Water) actually foresee the Japanese invasion. :) You can see the whole of Teluk Intan from the tower which is on flat land.

    oola *
    most interesting water tower i have EVER seen... and much more pleasing to the eye

    Sai Achanta
    lovely shot..like your observations on 'clock towers', yep true!

    onasill
    :-) this is wonderfull and very fine detail and wave, "dear I'm up here."
    Excellent work Thou San. My compliments. But to short as this is a fasinating Tower.
    onasill Have a wonderful day Thou-San
    ★onasill added this photo to his favorites.

    ineedathis
    I think she is in love with you:-) great candid shot!

    ★Geo_grafics added this photo to his favorites.

    henrhyde (gill)
    Beautiful composition and great words.
    Love the lady waving !

    ★october blue ( away ) added this photo to their favorites.
    Fine architectural detail ! And the pretty smile and wave of the lady is a nice complement . Great capture !

    ★Steve Taylor (Photography) added this photo to his favorites.
    It is nicely decorated

    tehkici
    love the architecrure

    ★Mon amour est à Paris added this photo to his favorites.

    Shobd0_BhooK
    Wonderful Shot!!!
    Thank you so much for wishing me health, during my illness.
    I am somewhat getting better now.

    serafin_moreno_alvarez
    Thank you for sharing your wonderful art!
    ART IN ALL LANGUAGES
    AWARD . Please join.

    ★Prometheus_BD added this photo to his favorites.
    Splendid shot.. beautiful composition and thought!
    This awesome image was seen and admired in..
    Flickr ♥♥♥ Friends
    Thank you for sharing!

    Eyemdreaming
    Wonderful detail.very pleasing to the eye!

    Sunciti _ Sundaram's Images + Messages
    Excellent Work . Well done

    ReplyDelete

  3. ★Pagan Eyes and Mon amour est à Paris added this photo to their favorites.

    The Visual Poet
    Excellent and interest capture! Thank you for your comments and about the poem/boulder, great to hear this!

    Eyemdreaming
    Interesting tower and story.

    Sunciti _ Sundaram's Images + Messages
    Interesting information and never heard this before. Thank You and Regards.

    ana_lee_smith
    An ironic tale ..... the 'Feng Shui' masters feuding over where the pagoda should be built ...considering Feng Shui is supposed to be about harmony! And then again ...taken over by the invading enemy & basically used against them. No wonder it leans .... buckling under all the conflict that pervades it *~* I've visited the tower at Pisa, which perhaps leans at the same degree & while the tower itself & its sister structures, the duomo & baptistery, are architecturally magnificent it was disappointing to be there. Unbelievable swarms of tourists (of which I was one, of course) and so highly commercialized, one is practically assaulted by vendors selling souvenirs.

    retnos2602 - out...
    So we have leaning tower too in Asia :->

    ★娜 娜☂Nana added this photo to her favorites.

    ReplyDelete

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