Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia – the world’s tallest building

Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, was founded in 1857 at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers as a settlement for tin miners. Since tin mining proved to be a profitable activity, the settlement developed over the years into a major city. Kuala Lumpur became capital of the Selangor state in 1880 eventually becoming the capital of Malaysia after independence.

Kuala Lumpur has expanded substantially during the boom years of the 1990s, with many skyscarpers being added, of which the Petronas Towers, until recently the world’s tallest buildings, are the most famous. Despite the frantic growth of the past 20 years Kuala Lumpur is a very nice and livable South East Asian capital. Its main attractions are the historic centre around Chinatown, the Golden Triangle shopping area, the Petronas towers, the lake Gardens park and a number of mosques and temples.

The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, named after the Malaysian Petronas industrial group, were the world’s tallest building between 1998 and 2004. The towers were designed by Cesar Pelli and built between 1992 and 1998. The towers have 88 floors and reach a height of 452m (top of antenna spire) and 410m (highest roof). Below the towers is Suria KLCC, a high end shopping mall.

The Golden Triangle area in KL, which encompasses Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Imbi with their shopping complexes, Jalan Sultan Ismail and stretches until the KLCC complex. This area is full of hotels, cafes and shopping complexes.

Kuala Lumpur Sentral (KL Sentral) is a transportation hub which houses KL’s new railway station and hotels, office towers, condominiums and shopping malls. The total area of the development is 290000 sqm and completion is scheduled for 2012. At the moment KL Sentral is where the KLIA Express train to KL International airport and other trains arrive and leave.

A Chinatown was established originally in the

Petaling street

area during the colonial period as an area where Chinese immigrants could settle. Nowadays Chinatown is an area with Chinese shops, traditional restaurants and hawker stalls. Here is where you can find fake branded goods, CD, DVDs etc.

KL Monorail, which finally went operational in 2003 after a long pause. I don’t know when construction begun, but it was already interrupted when I first visited KL in 1999 (it probably was resumed sometimes in 2002).

This mosque, also known as the the Federal Territory Mosque, is the 44th mosque built by the government within the city limits. The mosque is situated on a five hectare site near the Government Office Complex in Jalan Duta. The construction began in 1997 and was open for public use on 25th October, 2000. It is able to accommodate 17,000 devotees at one time. The whole building is about 47,000 square metres. It bears the “Mosque in the Garden” concept and is influenced by the traditional Ottoman mosques in Turkey.

The Batu caves are situated in a limestone hill 13km to the north of Kuala Lumpur. This hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, takes its name from the Sungai Batu river, which flows past it. The Orang Asli had been aware of the caves for a long time. However, they became famous only after they were discovered by the American Naturalist William Hornaday in 1878.

Of the various cave temples that make up the site, the largest and best known is the Temple or Cathedral Cave, so named because it houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100m high ceiling. This cave is the focus of the yearly Hindu Thaipusam celebrations. Next to the caves there is a colony of macaque monkeys, who are not afraid of humans.

This temple situated in Chinatown was built in 1873 and is the oldest Hindu temple in the city. It has intriguing designs and decorative features such as intricate carvings of Hindu deities, precious stones and hand-painted motifs depicting stories from early Hinduism. Malaysia’s tallest Hindu silver chariot is kept in a vault in the temple and is brought out once a year for the Thaipusam celebrations. The temple’s shape resembles a human body lying on its back with the head facing west and the feet pointing east. The tallest structure in the temple is the gopuram (tower) which corresponds to the feet of the body. The dramatic 23m-high pyramid-shaped gate tower is decorated with statues of Hindu gods created by artisans from southern India.

The Sri Subramanian Hindu temple was being built or expanded at the time when these photos were taken. The temple is beautifully decorated with colourful statues of Hindu gods and deities. It is located at the base of the main staircase to the Batu caves.

The KLIA mosque, also known as Sultan Abdul Samad mosque, lies near KL International Airport. The mosque has a beautiful blue-green cupola with Islamic patterns. The mosque was completed in the year 2000.

KL International Airport (IATA code: KUL) is Malaysia’s main international airport and a major regional aviation hub. It lies near Sepang, about 50km south of Kuala Lumpur. It opened in 1998 and has by now replaced the old domestic airport in Subang. It is currently ranked as the 13th busiest airport in the world by international passenger traffic. KLIA is the hub of Malaysian Airlines and AirAsia.

Tags: Asian Countries, Malaysia, petronas tower, tallest building in the world, twin towers in kuala lumpur

Category: Asian Countries