Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum

The Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum is located on Bukit Batu Pahat in Merbok, Kuala Muda District, Kedah, Malaysia. It is Malaysia's only museum dedicated to the archaeology of the Bujang Valley, an ancient Hindu-Buddhist trading settlement active from the 3rd to 12th century CE. The museum displays artifacts excavated from the valley, including ceramics, stone sculptures, and reconstructed candi remains, documenting early maritime trade and Indian cultural influence in Southeast Asia.

Visitors can expect an indoor museum complex on a forested hill with exhibition galleries displaying pottery, ceramics, beads, stone statues and other excavated artifacts from the Bujang Valley. Outside, a reconstructed candi (ancient temple) on its original site at Bukit Batu Pahat can be explored via walkways. The setting is quiet and park-like, with interpretive panels explaining the archaeological sites and the history of the valley's early trading settlement.

The museum preserves and interprets the Bujang Valley, an ancient entrepôt and Hindu-Buddhist settlement active from around the 3rd to 12th century CE. Excavations since the 19th century have revealed temple ruins (candi), iron-smelting sites, ceramics and trade goods indicating the valley was a major Southeast Asian maritime trading centre linked to Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern networks. It represents the earliest evidence of Indianized culture and organized settlement in Malaysia.

The site demonstrates early Indian cultural and religious influence in the Malay Peninsula, with Hindu-Buddhist artifacts, temple architecture and inscriptions. It is regarded as an important archaeological heritage area illustrating the region's early history, trade and cultural exchange, and is managed by the Department of Museums Malaysia as a centre for education and preservation of national heritage.