The genius of the place

A land situated on the west coast of Aceh in the northernmost part of Sumatra can be regarded as one of the countless Indian Ocean brides. It's better known to this day as Lamno, and now, it is part of the administrative area of Aceh Jaya Regency.

In the sixteenth century, a great kingdom had been established on this land. Famous under the name of the Daya Kingdom, it reached its heyday since that century due to the greatness of its rulers and the rapidity of its maritime trade.

Its rich forest commodities, and the cultivation of pepper, are two things that directly and prominently have given economic advantage to this kingdom.

But this kingdom experienced its decline and collapse toward the end of the nineteenth century because of the various political atmospheres that have changed, especially by the cause of imperialism.

On the land, now, there are only traces and evidence that are witnesses to the glorious past of the land.

The central area of the Daya is located in a delta valley between two streams that branches out of the river that is upstream in the highlands in the interior of Lamno. In general, the river is known as the river Lambeuso. One river mouth is called as Kuala Lambeuso and the other is Kuala Daya (kuala : firth). In the flow that empties into Kuala Daya there is one small island, named as Nusa (which means: island), which adds to the beauty of this valley. To its north, an elongated row of hills is like delivering the river to its mouth by the sea. On both banks of this river, has found the life of elite society in the past proven by artefacts of historical relics.

Although Daya is a delta, but we will be mistaken if we assess it as a whole lowland and open to the sea. Not at all. From the direction of the sea, you will only see a fairly high hillside, extending along the coast and connecting between the two mouths of the Lambeuso river.

The Daya valley is hidden behind a row of hills that seems to position itself as a natural bastion for life in the valley. In a cluster of hills stretching out to the sea, near the mouth of the river, reigned supreme ruler of Dayas Kingdom - His grave is still there until today, preaching about the splendor of his reign.

What can we notice from all of that?

I see the genius of a place. I've heard it from a thinker, who is also a geographer, and I see that fact from what is being present in front of me on a journey to the place where the former kingdom of Daya is.

A fertile valley with streams and hills, inhabited by people living with prosperity and peace, protected by the row of hill that fortifies them, and by a guardian king who is at the forefront of guarding to protect and secure their peace.

I'm sure, the ancestors who lived in the past have actually seen and realized the genius of this place, and they have seen it as something that needs to be imbued and followed.