Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah (Siti Khadijah Central Market) in Kota Bharu is arguably the most oft-photographed market in Malaysia. Perhaps it is because of its unique architecture. The market is housed in a 3-storey, octagonal building which has translucent dome roof with its spiderweb-look frame.
This allows sunlight to penetrate and illuminate the central area on the ground floor where the wet market is located. And this is also where the familiar scene of the market activities are normally captured by photographers, professionals and amateurs alike, thanks to the ambient light that provides interesting and even lighting on the pretty large area.
Kelantan other than Terengganu is famous for its enterprising ladies. Most of the traders in any market in Kelantan are ladies and at Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah it is no exception. Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah was formerly known as Pasar Besar Buluh Kubu. It was Tuan Guru Dato’ Hj Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat the Kelantan Mentri Besar (chief minister) who aptly changed its name to Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah after he took over the Kelantan State Government in 1990. Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah was named after the first wife of The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Siti Khadijah (r.a) who was a very successful businesswoman herself. It was also a mark of recognition to the enterprising Kelantanese ladies who occupy most of the stalls and shops at the central market.
I have intended to photograph the market for quite some time before but I didn’t get around to doing it whenever I went to Kota Bharu until 2 weeks ago when I managed to spare some time to capture the interesting market scene. However because I went on Friday which was a weekend in Kelantan the activities were less busy than usual and some traders closed their stalls.
Nevertheless I was happy I managed to bag several decent photos that I am able to share with you here for your viewing pleasure. Hope you enjoy viewing it!
Inside – wet market located on the ground flo
Outside the market complex
