Kuala Lumpur: The City Of Twin Towers

Kuala Lumpur, commonly known as KL, is the capital and the largest city of Malaysia. The city is mainly known for its world famous 451 metres tall Petronas Twin Towers which dominate the skyline of the city. It has a population of around 1.73 million and is among the fast-growing metropolitan areas in Southeast Asia. The name of the city translates to 'muddy confluence' in Malay, as it is located at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers.

Places to Visit in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is a very famous tourist destination due to a large number of popular gleaming skyscrapers, colonial architecture and a myriad of natural attractions. Some famous places of KL are the Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC Park, Batu Caves, Menara Kuala Lumpur, Bukit Bintang, and the Thean Hou Temple.

• THE PETRONAS TWIN TOWERS

The Petronas Twin Towers are the 452 metres high twin skyscrapers which dominate the skyline of the city of Kuala Lumpur. One cannot take the name of Kuala Lumpur without mentioning the famous Twin Towers. These are 88-story towers that have a modern Islamic design and a skybridge for visitors. The towers are said to evoke the image of the historic Qutub Minar. Until 2004 they were the tallest buildings in the world and still remain to be the world's tallest twin towers. And the skybridge which connects them is the highest two-story bridge in the world. It has a Postmodern Islamic architecture designed by architect César Pelli. Its construction took three years to complete and was opened on 1st August 1999 by Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The tower is also known for a series of notable events that took place several times. On 12th September 2001, thousands of people were evacuated from the tower after receiving a bomb threat one day after the 9/11 attacks. Once in 2005, a fire broke out below the towers which triggered panic among the people and tourists. In 2009, a French climber Alain Robert, using only his bare hands and feet without any safety equipment climbed the top of the towers in 2 hours, after two previous failed attempts which resulted in his arrest.

• KLCC PARK

The KLCC Park or the Kuala Lumpur City Centre Park, is an urban park created in 1988 designed to provide greenery to the areas surrounding the Petronas Twin Towers. It was designed by Roberto Burle Marx, a Brazillian architect. The park features a 10000 sq. meter Lake Symphony which has fountains that can shoot water up to a height of 180 metres. There is a 1.3 km long jogging track which is EPDM, which is a special rubberized material for comfort and safety, a playground for children with a public pool and the As Syakirin Mosque. The conservation of Bio-diversity had a major influence in the creation of the park.

• BATU CAVES

Batu Caves is a series of caves and cave temples on a limestone hill in Malaysia. It is a site of a Hindu Temple and Shrine which attracts thousands of tourists and worshippers, especially during Thaipusam, the annual Hindu festival. It is one of the most popular Tamil shrines outside India, dedicated to the deity Lord Murugan. The limestone with which the cave is formed is said to be around 400 million years old. Standing 140 ft high, it has the highest statue of Lord Murugan in the world which took three years to construct.