The Indian community in
Malaysia is the smallest of the three main ethnic groups: Malaysians Chinese and
Indians. The Indian community counts about 10% of the country’s population.
The Indians who came to Malaysia brought with them the Hindu culture
with its unique temples, delicious cuisine and colourful garments. Hindu
tradition remains strong until today in the Indian community of Malaysia.
Indians
first came to Malaya for barter trade, especially in the former
Settlements in the Straits of Malacca: Singapore,
Malacca and
Penang.
However, when India came under British rule, Indian labourers were sent
to Malaya to work on sugar cane and coffee plantations and later in the
rubber and oil palm estates. Some of them also came to work on the
construction of buildings, roads and bridges.
One of the oldest parts of the city, Jalan Masjid India is the original
shopping haven that has dated back over a century ago.
Its name is derived from a mosque built in 1870 for the Indian Muslim
population settling there at the times when tin-mining was booming.
Little India is at the heart of a thriving neighbourhood built up around
the district’s mosque.
You can reach "Little India" with the Star LRT or Putra LRT. You get
off at the Masjid Jamek Station.
It's also on walking distance from Petaling Street (China Town).
The Masjid Jamek mosque is only 200 meters away from this shopping bazaar.
The heart of Little India is the Jalan Masjid India. Vendors lug bales of
sarees through the traffic and past shops heaped with gold, traditional
medicines and gaudy glass bangles.
Brightly hued sarees and Bollywood-inspired Indian dresses (salwar
kameez and lengas) are some of the greatest temptations
here. Salwars are loose fitting tunics with a long knee-length
shirt/blouse, while lengas are long skirts.
This colourful street is great to visit if you're interested in Indian
ware.
Visitors to the place will feel as if they are in a bazaar.
Rows of Indian textile shops, like Kamdar. They have also a branch in
Georgetown - Penang.
Money changers (they say, you can get pretty good
rates here), shops, Imported clay and brass pots, sarees, Bollywood dvd
(Bombay - Hollywood of India)
In this neighbourhood is also a little hawker center. During the day, the
hawker stalls along this colourful and vibrant street offer tasty Indian
snacks, like samosa, ghulabjamun (sweet dumpling &
dash; like dessert) and vadai (a snack made with yellow slit peas,
ginger, curry leaves, onions and masala), which can be washed down with
the black cincau (grass jelly drink) or pink air bandung
(syrup drink).
For those wanting a sitdown meal, the numerous budget cafés
dish up delicious roti canai (tasty Indian bread), biriyani
(rice and curry dish) and dhal (curried lentils).
For jewellery is important to know, that the prices correspond to the
weight of the jewellery. Remember, the price of gold is fixed. What you’re
negotiating down then is the premium on the workmanship
