There are regular air-conditioned express bus services from Kuala Lumpur's Puduraya bus station to Alor Setar, including Plusliner (Tel: 603-20720763).
By Plane
From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines (tel. 1 300 88 3000 or 603-78463000 outside Malaysia) provides daily flights Alor Setar's Sultan Abdul Halim airport (Tel: 604- 7144301) just north of Alor Setar town. From there, you can catch a taxi to town. Optionally you can also use AirAsia (Tel: 1 300 88 9933 or 603-78849000 outside Malaysia) which provides daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Alor Setar.
By Rail
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) provides regular trips from Kuala Lumpur to Alor Setar town in Kedah. For further details please visit www.ktmb.com.my or contact KTMB at 603-22747435.
By Road From Kuala Lumpur, take the North South Expressway (NSE), heading north towards Kedah and take the Alor Setar Selatan exit (Interchange 177) into Alor Setar which is about 4km from this NSE exit.Balai Nobat is located on Jalan Raja close to the Royal Museum and State Art Gallery
Balai Nobat
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The Balai Nobat, houses the sacred instruments of the Royal Orchestra, played only during royal ceremonies of inaugurations, weddings, and funerals."
Although this 18 metre-tall and 5 metre-wide building is closed to the public, its interesting to know that its sole purpose is to house the royal musical instrument set known as the Nobat. The Nobat is played only by the Royal Orchestra during royal ceremonies including inaugurations, royal births, weddings, and funerals. It is believed that the Nobat originated from the Hindustani culture centuries ago when one of the brothers of the then ruling Sultan made a visit there.
This nine-piece muscial set is comprised of three drums, a gong, two flutes, two instruments called the cheng-cheng, and and a trumpet-like instrument called the Nafiri, which produces the haunting strains of nobat music.
For more information, please contact the Tourism Malaysia office at 604-7312322 / 604-7301322 or the State Economic Planning office at 604-7007113.
