State Museum Complex

Minangkabau culture and history is housed at the State Museum (Teratak Perpatih) within the grounds of the State Museum Complex on Jalan Sungai Ujung in Seremban at the Seremban/Labu exit off the Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Highway. The museum showcases a fine display of ceremonial keris (daggers), Bugis and Minangkabau swords, and royal ornaments. The museum’s main building however, is the 19th-century Ampang Tinggi Palace from Kuala Pilah town that has been carefully reconstructed here. Next door is the Negeri Sembilan House, another fine piece of Minangkabau architecture and built without a single nail. Unlike the palace’s attap roof, the house has a cover of wooden shingles. 

Green hills and landscaped gardens provide the setting for the beautiful Diraja Sri Menanti Museum (tel: 06-762 1149/763 5388; daily 9am–5pm; free) in the royal town of Sri Menanti. A former palace, it was built in 1903 without a single nail. Pieced together with hardwood dowels and rivets, the four-storey timber structure sits on 99 pillars, representing the warriors of the various luak. It ceased to be a royal residence in 1931, when a new palace was completed in the shape of the blue-tiled Istana Besar nearby. The museum showcases the regalia of the Negeri Sembilan royal family as well as ceremonial weaponry and costumes.