Sacred Sites of Kuala Lumpur: Temples & Mosques You Can’t Miss

Sacred Sites of Kuala Lumpur: Temples & Mosques You Can’t Miss

Hi. So, day 36 of the travel 
vlog, Deb, time’s flying. It is day 36.
We’re running out of we’re running out of time here.
So, today’s vlog is all about temples and what was the other thing? It’s shrines, 
wasn’t it? Shrines and temples. Is that correct? Yeah. So cultural and religious sites within 
Kuala Lumpur because we are visiting Kuala Lumpur for a month as you know.
And we are currently planning on our list of things to do. Yeah.
And we thought this could be a good one. So, there’s a few places in Kuala Lumpur that I 
think would be of interest to go and see. Again, we’ve done our good old research.
Yeah. So bear with us if we’re looking 
down. It’s because we’re reading. And there’s multiple religions, isn’t 
there, in Kuala Lumpur? Yes. It’s very multicultural from my understanding.
Okay. So, the first one which doesn’t sound like a religious place at all. It’s 
called Batu Caves. Now, that conjures up to me a cave full of bats. Yes.
It doesn’t conjure up a temple. We shall see.
Yeah. But interestingly, it’s a series of limestone caves that house Hindu shrines.
All right. Okay. And they were most famously dedicated 
to Lord Murugan. And the iconic feature, I don’t know if you’ve seen it or ever been there, 
but it looks incredible, is a 42.7 meter, that’s 140 foot golden statue of Lord Murugan. And it’s 
one of the tallest Hindu statues in the world. Wow.
And it’s golden. I bet Hindus come from all over 
the world to go and see that then. I would have thought so. And it is placed at 
the foot of the steps leading up to the temple. Wow. And the steps are beautiful. They 
are all brightly coloured steps walking up. Well, like a marble or something?
I don’t know what they’re actually made of. I’ve only seen pictures. But yes, they’re 
very pretty. They’re very, very beautiful to look at. Let’s hope they are the same in person. 
So the experience it talks about is you climb 272 Wow.
steps. That’ll get us fit
get those knees working. I think we’ll have to stop a couple of times. Yes.
To reach the main cave known as the Cathedral Cave or the Temple Cave and that has a 
huge vaulted ceiling and shrines inside. I do love a vaulted ceiling. I know it’s mad, 
but being an ex-builder carpenter, I do love architecture and structure of architecture. 
So, something like that really interests me. Yeah. And I’m fascinated how they thought 
to, you know, put the religious site within a cave. Very clever. Very clever.
Wonder if there’s a meaning behind it. Maybe hopefully we’ll find out once we’re there. 
And then there are some other caves there. One is called Dark Cave, but you 
need a guided tour with that. So, imagine it’s really dark. Yeah, must be really 
dark there. And it showcases impressive limestone formations, which I’m always fascinated by them. And cave dwelling animals. Wonder what they are? Well, I had to dig a bit deeper.
I bet you did. Well, I need to prepare myself of what I might 
come across. Yes. And in this cave, we might come across, as I already mentioned, bats.
Yes. Insects.
Yeah. Which I’m not too keen on. Spiders. Yeah. Again, not my favourite. Snakes.
Wow. Okay. Snakes as well. And cave crickets.
Oh, I’ve never heard of that. Nor me, I didn’t know that crickets would 
live in a cave. I would have thought it would be a bit dark and damp for them, but they
but obviously they got used to that environment or that’s their preferred environment. So,
yeah. So, there’s some tips. Go early. And early means early
before 9:00 a.m. Yeah, before 9:00 a.m.
Oh. I’m going to struggle with that one. I do like a lie in, but 
it makes sense because that’s to try and avoid the intense midday heat because obviously it must get 
really hot. And watch out for the monkeys. Yes. And I think that’s across the board with monkeys because they are cheeky little sods, aren’t they? Well, and they’ve been there for however long 
and they’ve got so used to tourists being there now and it’s easy pickings. Yeah. They snatch and 
you know, at the end of the day, one thing I will be doing with the camera and stuff is tying 
it to my wrist so they can’t run off with it. Yeah, we need to organize a wrist 
strap for that. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Because that’s a I mean, we’d 
be lost without that, you know. Well, it’s very expensive. You know, it’s like 
these I’ve seen it on YouTube, but they run off with phones and stuff like that. So, you got to 
be careful because I mean, I don’t know about you, but an iPhone at the moment’s got to be £1,000, 
isn’t it? I don’t know the cost of them, but yeah, they’re not cheap, are they, to replace. And 
it’s not just like replacing a phone, though, is it? It’s like replacing your right arm.
Yes, because you got all your details in there, we rely on them for everything now, don’t we?
Yeah. I remember as a young man, you knew everybody’s phone number in 
your head. You just knew it, didn’t you? How did you do that? Yeah.
Just everybody knew the numbers and there would be loads of them.
Yeah. Yeah. You’re right. You know, home numbers.
Yeah. Extensions, everything. I mean, 
and today I can’t even remember Debbie’s number and I ring it all the time.
That’s shocking. I know his number. And the other tip is obviously, as you would expect, 
to wear appropriate clothing. So, it is a place of worship. You must cover your shoulders and 
your knees. I’m surprised it doesn’t say head, to cover your head as well –
unless that’s mainly Catholic, that kind of thing.
Don’t know. But again, it’s, you know, you’ve got to be, 
what’s the word? Mindful. Be mindful and respectful of the local religions and the local 
cultures when you’re travelling. And that’s one of the things I love about slow travelling and 
the freedom lifestyle is you’re mixing in with culture. You know, you don’t want to stand out. 
You don’t want to upset anyone. You don’t want to offend anyone. You know, you want to experience 
and be enriched by the culture that you’re in. Yeah. Oh, that’s the whole I think point of 
our trip, isn’t it? To try and achieve that. And to do that, you’ve got to be courteous. 
Definitely. And then the last thing it says about the Batu Caves is – why it’s great 
to visit. It’s the combination of the massive statue. Yeah. The rainbow painted 
stairs. So, they’ve obviously painted. Yeah. And the cave interior. It’s 
a very dramatic visual experience. Cool.
So, that sounds nice. I’m really looking forward to that.
Yeah. I am. And it sounds like it will be a pleasure 
to the eyes and the senses to go there. Yeah. So the second one is the Thean Hou Temple. Thean Hou Temple, excuse my pronunciation. It’s this is a majestic Chinese temple dedicated to 
the goddess Tian Hou. Protector of seafarers. So it’ll be all the fishermen and stuff like that.
Yeah. And the design highlights are it’s got multi-tiered roofs.
Yeah. And they’re very intricate red pillars and beautifully decorated lanterns. Wow. Now, 
I don’t know if you’ve seen any pictures of it. I’ve seen I’ve seen Chinese lanterns and 
they’re stunning. So, so this temple is obviously got those beautiful shaped roofs 
and then all of the lanterns are red. So, it’s I think again it’s going to 
be a wonderful experience for the eyes. I wonder why red is such a prominent colour 
in this kind of culture. Yeah, if you know, do put it in the comments below because it’d be 
interesting to know because it is this gold and reds are very prominent, aren’t they? Colours.
Yes. Yeah. When you think of Chinese structures or whatever. Yeah.
Yeah. So again very pretty looking. The location is perched on a hill 
offering sweeping views over Kuala Lumpur skyline. So that’ll be lovely on its own.
Yeah. So it’s going to be elevated. So gorgeous. That sounds lovely. And inside 
the temple once you go in there you’ll see traditional Chinese deities a marriage 
registration office. So they must carry out they must carry out marriages, weddings there. Yeah. I mean that would be wonderful pictures, wouldn’t it? If you got married somewhere like that.
And fortune telling counters. And again, I had to dig deeper and find out.
I’m glad Debbie I’m glad Debbie does dig deeper because it saves me so much hassle. And I’m 
not a reader being dyslexic. And that’s why Debbie is usually talking mainly in these videos at the 
moment because…. you’re probably sick of my voice. I find it… Well, I wouldn’t say that, 
but I find I find it difficult to read and pronounce myself. So 
please forgive me for that and… But I love doing all the research 
because I am intrigued and I’m genuinely interested in lots of different things
which is, which is excellent for me and finding things out and learning new 
things. So this is great for me. And so the fortune telling counters I had pictures in my 
head of ladies sitting there with a crystal ball ready to tell your fortune. It’s not that. It’s 
basically, they have divination sticks that, and it’s self-service. So you go and help yourself 
to one of the sticks. They don’t charge you but a donation is expected.
Yes. So a bit like church with lighting a candle.
Yes. It’s expected that I think it’s quite offensive if you don’t make any kind of 
donation. And then inside there’s a, on a piece of paper written your fortune and 
it’s in Chinese and English. All right. So to me that reminds me of a fortune cookie 
that you get typically in Chinese restaurants. Yeah. I wonder again because that’s something 
the Chinese or the Chinese culture seems to do. I wonder why that is. The fortune 
cookies. I wonder what that’s all about. Love to hear if you know in the comments exactly 
why they do these things these fortune cookies because they are intriguing and they are lovely 
and they are a lot and they are a lot of fun. But it would be interesting to know the reasoning 
behind it, the original culture behind it. Yeah. Yeah. Let us know if you know. 
And another thing you can expect there is beautiful gardens with koi ponds.
Oh, I love koi. Yeah, they’re so beautiful, aren’t they? The big koi fish.
Which are obviously a huge Chinese tradition as well, aren’t they? The koi 
fish. So, yes, I think that would be very pretty to have a walk around there.
Yeah, I’ve had a couple of friends over the years that keep koi. And it’s a 
lot of work. And they’re very expensive. Yes, they are. In the UK, they are
very expensive. They’re very I mean, some people get them stolen out of their garden ponds. They’re that expensive. Yeah. Yeah. But, they are beautiful animals 
and they’re massive. They are. They grow. They They can grow huge.
Absolutely massive. So, also within the beautiful gardens are statues of all the Chinese zodiacs. So, that would be cute as well. Okay. That will be interesting. Yeah. Because one 
of the things I love about the Chinese zodiac is that that was kind of to my knowledge anyway was one of the first ways we worked out things because the Chinese were into all this before we were –
okay. So I think a lot of it comes from China
originally on the zodiac. Do you know what my Chinese year 
of the zodiac is? What animal? Go on.
I’m a monkey. Well, I’m a stallion. You are!
I know. You are a horse.
I’m a stallion. So, we have a horse and a monkey. Nay.
So the best time to visit again is early morning or sunset 
for good photography when the temple lights come on and the city below glows. When would you 
prefer to go? During the day or with the lights? I like the atmosphere of the lights. I quite like 
that as general when whenever we’ve been abroad and we’re overlooking a city, especially when 
you’re overlooking a city because during the day you’re overlooking, it’s okay, it’s interesting, 
but the lights just give that ambiance. They give that wow factor. They give that romantic 
I don’t know. It just it’s a different feeling. Yeah. Yeah. My only thought in my 
head is I really want to walk around the gardens. Yes. So I’m just hoping 
that they’ll be very well lit. And that makes sense. Which they must 
be if they’re advising you to go, you know, in the evening as well. Okay. 
So that’s it for the Thean Hou Temple. Mhm. The next one we only have four. So number 
three is the Jamek Mosque and this is one of Kuala Lumpur’s oldest mosques. It was built 
in 1909, which is quite recent really. Yeah. And it’s it says it’s blending. Is it Mong? 
Mughal. No, Mughal Oh, is it? Yeah. See, I got it once. I got it right for once. Mughal
and Moorish. Now, I love Moorish. I love the Moorish architecture. It’s absolutely 
stunning. Get a lot of it in Spain. Is that the little tiles? Yes. And it’s, you know, 
it’s like when you walk into one of the thing, I’ve only seen it in Spain where you open the 
door and you come into this entrance and there’s a garden there. Oh, yes. It’s very Moorish,
absolutely stunning. But it also has Islamic stalls as well within this mosque. Yeah. 
And again, I don’t I don’t know what that is apart from apart from the domes, you know, 
which we see on Islamic temp is it temples or mosques? Mosques. Yeah. So this is a mosque. 
Yeah. So yeah. So it stands dramatically at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers 
where the city’s earliest settlement began. Wow. And the architecture is white domes. 
Wow. Because you imagine building those domes, especially back then. And that’s what I don’t 
know about you, but I love you. How did they do that? How did they create that, you know, back in the day? And you have to go.. Well it was in 1900s? So no, but I mean, no, but it’s a copy. That’s 
what they did originally. Yes. The domes. Yeah. And that and that’s one thing I love about 
it’s my carpenter coming my carpenter head coming out. My engineering head coming out as well 
because you go back to so many traditional architectural builds and we create so much now 
from their knowledge. Yes. Oh yeah. They they were the experts. Yeah. Yeah. It’s mad. Yeah. 
They paved the way for us. It’s a bit like we take the mickey in the UK about the Roman 
roads and the UK roads. How the Roman roads are still there – are still going strong – and 
the UK roads are just potholes everywhere. So the architecture is white domes arched 
colonnades and a photogenic prayer hall. I’ve never been inside a mosque prayer hall so 
that’s going to be a new experience for me which is cool. Yeah. And it symbolizes the roots 
of Islam in Malaysia and is still a functioning mosque with daily prayers. All right. So modest 
dress is required as you’d expect. You can borrow robes on site which is good. They’re not 
charging you for them. Yeah. And it’s closed to non-Muslims during prayer times. Yeah. Which makes sense. Yes. I don’t know how many prayers a day do Muslims are are they required or 
how many times a day does a mosque open for prayer? That’d be interesting. 
Anybody who’s a Muslim who’s watching this is, that’ll be fascinating. So please, 
you know, put something down in the comments. And then the last one which is number four is the Sri Mahamariamman Temple. Again, really sorry for the pronunciation. It’s probably completely wrong, 
but it’s the oldest functioning Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur, dating back to 1873. So this is 
even older. Yeah. So it’s still not that old, is it? No. So the striking feature of this 
temple is the dramatic multicolored gopuram, which is another word for tower, with hundreds 
of sculpted deities standing 23 meters tall. Wow. And I wasn’t sure what a deity 
was, which is showing my ignorance there, so I did have to Google it. But it’s basically 
gods and goddesses. And they were all on the external a bit like Exeter Cathedral. Yeah. Where 
they’ve got obviously lots of religious people from historically. It sounds very similar, but 
to this ,what would you call it? Religion. Yes. The interior is richly decorated shrines to 
various Hindu gods. Yeah. I think they have quite a few, don’t they? I’m not sure. 
Yeah. Occasional ceremonies with music, fire offerings. That’s interesting. And 
chanting. A unique visual and audio treat. Well, you say fire offerings. I think they do 
that part of the world. I might be wrong, but they do a lot of amazing fire shows, you know, where they’re swinging at this at night and… Oh, I’ve seen them like when I’ve been on holiday, 
but I didn’t know it was a religious thing. Well, I think it is. I think there’s a 
lot in Malaysia because of that. Oh, cool. And then lastly just the visiting 
tips which is the only one it says about this for is you must remove your shoes 
before entering and obviously respect worshippers and avoid interrupting any rituals 
if there’s one going on at the time. Yeah. No, that makes a lot of sense. I mean 
it’s quite standard basic stuff, isn’t it? If you’ve got anything about 
you and I think most people have. Yes. So if you’d like to join us on this 
journey and you’d like to see more of what we’ve got to talk about, and show you because 
we will be doing more videos as as we go along of where we go and what we do and everything. 
It won’t be just talking. This is just the prep stage. This is the boring stage. Yeah. But it’s 
really essential though and I think it’s really good that we’re doing this stage because like 
I said in a previous video, our hope for this channel was that we could show you from cradle to grave so to speak that the whole journey not just oh we’ve arrived in Kuala Lumpur and this is what we’re doing. This is… there’s a lot of preparation going into this 12 month trip of ours and we want to share every part of it with you and once we’re on the road obviously our videos are going to be so much more enjoyable and exciting. I would have thought. Yes. Yes. And it won’t just be me standing here 
talking. I hope, I hope we’re putting a bit of fun into it as we as we’re waffling on. But yes, 
do subscribe if you want to come along on the journey with us because we’d love you to come 
along. And that’s about it for today, isn’t it? It is. That’s it. We’ve covered the religious 
sites in Kuala Lumpur, so not sure what we’re talking about tomorrow yet, but we’ll find 
something. Yes. And one thing I would mention we’ve started another site that’s with raffles 
and what that is, is just to give people a chance to win some stuff and basically to to 
help us on our way. So if you fancy a flutter. Yeah. Very cheap tickets for sale for all 
sorts of unusual things. Yes. So we’ll put the link in the description below for the other 
site. It’s called Freedom Lifestyle Raffles. So if you’re interested, just press on the link 
and have a little look. Have a little flutter. Who knows, you might win something. Yeah. 
Hope you do. And if you do, let us know. Yeah. So do subscribe. Do come along on the 
journey with us because we’d love you to come along. And that’s it until tomorrow. 
Yes. We’ll see you again tomorrow. Bye bye.

🌏 DAY 36 Travel VLOG | Culture & Heritage in Kuala Lumpur 🌏
🌟 Our Raffles channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjzKzSQgblSc13SO23rUoxA
Email us: freedomlifestyle0316@gmail.com

Join us as we discuss exploring Kuala Lumpur’s most stunning cultural and religious landmarks! From the towering Batu Caves with its golden Murugan statue, to the ornate Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the elegant Jamek Mosque, and the beautiful Thean Hou Temple overlooking the city — we chat about the history, and breathtaking architecture behind these sacred gems and our enthusiasm for wanting to visit during our 12 month SE Asia trip.

We’ll share what you need to know about visiting these places respectfully. Whether you’re planning a trip or just curious, this video will give you a deep look into KL’s diverse cultural heritage.

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