Sri Maha Mariamman Temple

This guide follows K. Thamboosamy Pillai, a Tamil businessman who built this shrine in 1873 as a private family temple and kept it locked to outsiders, even as Kuala Lumpur filled with Tamil laborers who had nowhere of their own to worship. It traces what changed decades after his death, when the Pillai family finally opened the doors. Stand in the courtyard and look up at the five-tiered tower above the entrance.