Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur

The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple is the oldest Hindu Temple in Kuala Lumpur. It was founded by K. Thamboosamy Pillai as a private family shrine in 1873 at another location before it was moved to its present location in High Street in 1885. (High Street was later renamed Jalan Bandar and subsequently to its present name of Jalan Tun H.S.Lee.)

Thamboosamy was a prominent businessman, money-lender, tin-miner and government contractor of Tamil origin. Born in Singapore in 1850, he became an acknowledged leader of the Tamil community in Kuala Lumpur. Besides this Sri Mahamariamman temple, it is also said that he founded the Temple at the Batu Caves in 1891.

Thamboosamy passed away in 1902 in Singapore, and his family eventually opened the family shrine to the public in the late 20's. The management of the temple was subsequently handed over to a Board of Trustees.

The original temple at High Street that Thamboosamy built was a simple attap structure, which was demolished and rebuilt out of brick in 1887. That structure was also demolished and rebuilt in 1968, which is the current temple building. The highlight of the temple, the ornately decorated gateway or gopuram was added in 1972.

The Sri Maha Mariamman temple.

A gopuram is a monumental tower at the entrance of a temple and functions as a gateway into a temple through walls that usually surround the temple complex. They are usually the most prominent feature of temples of the Dravidian or South Indian style. 

The Sri Maha Mariamman temple's gopuram is 75 feet high and made up of 5 tiers fully adorned with miniature sculptures of 228 hindu deities. The entrance of the temple faces east, and the on plan, the temple is arranged in the form of a human body, with the gopuram symbolising the feet.

The five tiered Gopuram.

The shoe deposit counter.

Shoes and other footwear are not allowed within the temple premises. On the left of the gopuram is a shoe deposit counter, where you can store your shoes for the princely sum of 20 cents per pair. You then walk in barefoot into the gopuram over the ornately carved timber threshold and through the massive timber doors. As a working temple, there are no fees or charges to enter.

Timber threshold.

The threshold represents the division between the material and spiritual worlds.

View of the Gopuram from within the temple.

Inside the complex, you will see that it is a courtyard surrounded with other modern buildings with the Main Prayer Hall sitting in the centre of the open space. Around the Main Prayer Hall are four smaller shrines dedicated to other deities.

The shrine on the right of the Main Prayer Hall.

The shrine on the right is decorated with a chariot pulled by 7 horses on the roof of the shrine.

Inside the shrine.

View of the Main Prayer Hall from the side.

A relief on the side of the Main Prayer Hall.

Another shrine at the rear of the temple complex.

At the rear of the courtyard, is another shrine, this one decorated with an onion-shaped roof and images of lions.

Pigeons among the decorated lions.

Icon

Ganesha, the Remover of Obstacles.

The shrine on the left.

A line up of deities.

The Main Prayer Hall.

The Prayer Hall is decorated in bright gaudy colours.

The Sanctum Sanctorum with the deity Mariamman within its closed doors. 

The Sanctum Sanctorum is the head of the temple, and it houses a statue of the patron deity of the temple Mariamman. Mariamman is a Tamil folk goddess, predominantly worshipped in pre-Vedic times in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu in India. She is now commonly associated with Hindu deities such as Parvati, Kali and Durga.

The name "Mari" means "rain" and "Amman" is "mother"; hence Mariamman is the Mother of Rain or in other words the Mother Goddess. As the bringer of rain, she is associated with fertility and prosperity, as to the rural farmers, an abundance of rain means an abundant crop and prosperity.

Final look at the Gopuram before exiting.

The temple is busy during the Festival of Deepavali, as well as Thaipusam. During Thaipusam, the silver chariot and procession starts its journey to the Batu Caves from here.


Sri Maha Mariamman Temple

Address: Jalan Tun H. S. Lee, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Telephone: + (604) 263 4941

Opening Hours: 6:00am to 8:30pm (times may vary, extended hours on Friday and Saturday)