Day 5, places of worship in Malaysia

Now, let's take a spiritual tour of the numerous and amazing centres of worship in Malaysia.

....where's my bottled water?? This place is really hot and humid!!!

Let's cover our arms and legs as skimpily clad people will be denied entry! We must be respectful of local customs at all times throughout our journey.

Hindu Temples

Founded in 1873, the Sri Mahamariamman Temple is the oldest and richest Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur and has typical South Indian architecture! When looking at it, you think that you were back in Tamil Nadu!

Let's go North of Kuala Lumpur to Batu Caves, a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples and is said to be over 400 million years old!!

The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. Guess what?? Its the Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia and we are going to join the other 1.5 million annual pilgrims (making it one of the largest annual gatherings anywhere in the world)

So, how fit are you???

Be careful, as you walk up the very steep flight of 272 steps as the numerous, territorial macaque monkeys pose a biting hazard and steal the offering of fruit etc

Wow, this swirling crowd is simply "lifting" me along........as the different fragrances of incense sticks permeate the air.....

Rising almost 100 m above the ground, Batu Caves temple complex consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a 100 m-high ceiling, and features ornate Hindu shrines.

Chinese Temples

The Thean Hou Temple (Chinese: 天后宫) is a landmark six-tiered Chinese temple in Kuala Lumpur.

Mosques

The Putra Mosque, or Masjid Putra in Malay language, is the principal mosque of Putrajaya, Malaysia

The Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque is the country's biggest mosque and also the second biggest mosque in Southeast Asia. The Mosque is also known as the Blue Mosque owing to its blue aluminium dome covered in a rosette of verses from the Qur'an. The dome is one of the largest in the whole world, measuring 170 feet in diameter and 350 feet in height from the ground level. The four minarets are the second tallest in the world at 460 feet. In its early years, the mosque was also listed in the Guinness World Records as having the tallest minaret in the world . This impressive mosque is large enough to accommodate up to 16,000 worshippers!!