Masjid Negara – The National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur

From the window of my guesthouse in Chinatown, one of the first things I noticed was a building off in the distance with a huge, blue, star shaped roof. I had no idea what it was until I opened up my map of Kuala Lumpur and my Lonely Planet guide. That interesting building that I could see in the distance is the National Mosque of Malaysia – Masjid Negara. I had to go check it out.

The mosque is set on a huge plot of land and surrounded by beautiful gardens, located just outside of Chinatown opposite the old railway station. Completed in 1965, it is certainly a modern mosque, and its design symbolizes Malaysia’s independence, which it received only a few years beforehand.

Masjid Negara – The National Mosque

Dressed in our provided purple robes, we entered Masjid Negara outside of the prayer times to explore this huge place of worship. Tiles, columns, pools and fountains make up most of the building, and its 75 metre tall minaret dominates wherever there is a view above.

Entering the mosque

The Minaret towers above a pool and fountain

An empty walkway inside Masjid Negara. At prayer times it would be filled with local worshipers coming to the mosque to pray.

Most impressive of all is the huge prayer hall situated underneath the star shaped dome, with its beautiful windows and chandeliers and verses of the Koran on its walls. It was empty at the time, but the mosque can accommodate up to 15,000 worshipers. I can only imagine what that must look like.

The Prayer Hall inside Masjid Negara

From within the mosque itself there are also some great panoramic views to be had of Kuala Lumpur, the surrounding city spreading out to the horizon.

A view of Kuala Lumpur from Masjid Negara

Panorama of the view of Kuala Lumpur from the mosque

As a foreigner, you can only visit Masjid Negara outside of the main prayer times. 9am-12pm, 3-4pm and 5:30-6:30pm. It is definitely worth taking the time to visit.