Sri Mahamariamman - the coolest Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur

Oddly enough, but in Malaysia, which is located next to India, Hinduism is only fourth in popularity (about 6%), behind Islam (60%), Buddhism (20%) and even Christianity (10%). But, despite the statistics, according to my personal feelings, there are many more Indians in Kuala Lumpur than Christians, and I have seen more Hindu temples than churches and cathedrals (which I don’t remember at all). Of course, the most popular Hindu place is the famous Batu caves, but if we talk specifically about the temple, the coolest in the city (it is also the oldest) is the famous Sri Mahamariamman temple.

Sri Mahamariamman was built back in 1873 by emigrants from southern India, and it is the oldest of the existing Hindu temples in the country. But the most interesting thing is that the main Hindu temple is not in "little India", where most Indians live, but on the outskirts of Chinatown. On the other hand, it is understandable - here is the historical center of the city, from which the construction of the modern metropolis began.

This temple is easy to find on the "roof", or rather on the gopuram - the sacred pyramidal gate. If you do not know, then these gates are needed so that, having passed through them, a person is cleansed and enters the temple without unnecessary "dirt". The gates to the Hindu temple, as a rule, are much brighter and more colorful than the temple itself, and the gopurams of Sri Mahamariamman temple once again confirm this! True, this gate was built only in 1972, after the temple was rebuilt and expanded.

Hindus are very hospitable and they let everyone in their temple absolutely free, just ask to cover up excessive nudity (for which they give out large scarves) and take off their shoes. In Asia, shoes are generally secondary, especially in sacred places. And it’s not even dirt, it’s a matter of principle!

Why is the temple so called? And because he is dedicated to the mother goddess very popular in southern India - Mahamariamman, who seems to be one of the incarnations of Parvati, the wife of Shiva.

In the courtyard of the temple, the walls are decorated with colorful figures of Hindu gods, most of which I do not know. But it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that it’s beautiful! Although this (below) is exactly Shiva with his “green” wife Parvati, their elephant-headed son Ganesha and someone else.

I could have loaded you with history and other boring information from google-wikipedia for a long time to come. Let’s better go inside and see what the temple itself looks like!

Despite the fact that the temple is more than one and a half centuries old, it looks almost like new. Everything shines and sparkles, not a single speck of dust, cleanliness, order and a very calm atmosphere, although behind the gates the largest Asian bustling metropolis. Over there, in the green crypt house, which is guarded by two guards in red, there is precisely the main statue of the goddess Mahamariamman. But no strangers can enter there!

The temple is active, so the Indians come here to pray to their gods and receive a blessing from local ministers. And we, tourists, can just watch and take pictures absolutely calmly (and for free).

In the temple, there was just puja (according to our service), so local priests blessed all who came. In India, by the way, anyone can receive a blessing, regardless of his faith. Even if you are a Buddhist or a Catholic, you can safely approach the priest and he will bless you and mark your forehead with a sacred dash. Just do not forget to donate a penny for this.

I liked the temple of Sri Mahamariamman. Very nice and comfortable place. Even somehow I didn’t want to leave here, I also wanted to sit on this sparkling floor, sigh the smells of Indian incense and just get high. But time was running out, we had to move on.