Coffin Exhibit at the Muzium Negara

We originally did not have plans of visiting the Muzium Negara (National Museum in Malay) during our trip to Malaysia but we all changed our minds when we saw the ad for the Coffin Exhibit! Entrance fee to the Museum is 2 ringgit (P 28) for adults and is free for children 12 yrs and below. I love that fact that they allow the guests to take photos inside. For the Coffin exhibit, we paid an additional 2 ringgit each and a 3 ringgit camera fee. The exhibition features 39 coffins from Malaysia, Thailand, India and the Philippines. Aside from coffins there were also displays on burial traditions and rituals.
Carabao shaped coffins from Indonesia.
Intricate coffins from India (left) and Thailand (right)
Glass urn and a burial jar (with a creepy hand sticking out!). The see through glass urn freaks me out though. I don't want to imagine how it looks when it has something inside...
A tree coffin with a wrapped body (but head is exposed!). This is something that I do not want to see in the forest at night!
a wooden coffin with a lizard carving for a child
A stone slab burial was common in Perak, Malaysia during the Metal Age
Coffin on wheels!
This artistic coffin called Lungun was reserved for the Aristocrat class in Kelabit, Malaysia. The body is arranged into fetal position before being placed inside.
And finally, our very own Manunggul jar (well, a replica of it). The boatmen on the cover symbolize the soul's journey to the afterlife.

They also featured the rattan burial chair of the Kalanguya tribe.

"The corpse is left to rot on the rattan chair until it is reduced to a skeleton by the tribe, one of dozens of mountainous indigenous people living in northern Luzon, Philippines. "The fluid from the corpse drips into a basket under the chair. It is then dabbed on the bodies of family members for blessing. The skeleton is stored in a crock known as Tempayan Manunggul"

quote from Yahoo news