KUALA TERENGGANU: Every day throughout Ramadan, two cousins climb up and down 90 steps twice a day to ring a giant bell and in doing so, preserve a 116-year-old tradition.
Muhammad Muizzuddin Mansur, 25, and Muhammad Hamidi Aminuddin, 30, ring the bell on Bukit Puteri for nearby villagers in the wee hours of the morning before sahur and again before the breaking of fast.
Muizzuddin and Hamidi are third-generation custodians of the bell that has been in use since 1908. Muizzuddin's father, Mansur Awang was the previous custodian who was entrusted with the task by the Terengganu Religious Affairs Department.
Every year, before Ramadan, the cousins would collect the key to the lock for the bell from the state museum.
They will sound the 175kg brass bell 30 minutes before the breaking of fast and at 1am to awaken housewives who will prepare meals for sahur.
"It can be heard 2 km away," said Muizzuddin, he said, adding there were "pantangs" (taboos) related to the sounding of the bell.
According to historical records, the bell was made by a coppersmith named Wan Ali Wan Awang during the reign of Sultan Zainal Abidin III in 1908.
Wan Ali was assisted by other coppersmiths from several villages near Istana Maziah.
