The Intersection of Religions in Malaysia

Malaysia is such a melting pot of cultures and religions as depicted in this sweet mural:

The main religions are Islam (63.5%), Buddhism (18.7%), Hinduism (6.1%), and Christianity (9.1%). In my eyes, there is a very welcoming and integrated feeling where all of these religions coexist. While there are neighborhoods in Penang for different ethnic groups like a "Little India" and a "Chinatown", you also could be walking down a street and see a Muslim mosque, a Hindu temple,a Buddhist temple, and a Christian church all in a couple of blocks! The country is very peaceful and it seems that all groups are very tolerant and accepting of each other at least on the surface. It is interesting that the National holidays include: Eids (the start and end of Ramadan), Vesak (the birthday of Buddha), Christmas, Lunar New Year, Deepavali (or Diwali festival of lights), and Maulidur Rasul (the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad).

It is easy to tell that the country is mostly Muslim. The Muslim women here all wear headscarves (hijab) and dress beautifully. We hear the call to prayer five times a day which I have come to love. At airports and malls, you can find prayer rooms and at the roadside rest stops, you can always see a covered platform facing Mecca. We have been welcomed to enter several mosques including the country's biggest National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur where we were given a tour by a local. It was a very moving experience.

Photos from the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur:

Here is the floating mosque in Penang and another mosque in KL:

We have visited numerous temples. Within Buddhism, there are different temples for Burmese, Thai, and Chinese branches. Here are examples of those in Penang and notice how different they are:

Burmese Buddhist temple:

Thai Buddhist temple:

In Penang, the famous Buddhist temple is called Kek Lok Si and has multiple levels and temples within, being built onto it in many different time periods. Here are some photos from this enormous landmark:

Interiors:

In Kuala Lumpur, the famous and very colorful Hindu temple built into the rocks is called the Batu Caves (or bat caves). Here are some photos from there:

And another Hindu temple in KL:

We have yet to check out the Christian churches but have seen both Catholic and Protestant churches represented.

,

In addition to places of worship, there are constant festivals going on. We were fortunate to witness the Buddhist Festival of the Hungry Ghosts where the streets were full of incense and puppet shows and food offerings to the dead.

We see shrines all around town:

We also ate moon cake and saw the lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Another festival that just occurred was Taoist and called the Nine Emporer Gods Festival where vegetarian food was served and some devotees did impaling through their cheeks and walked on fire.

It is now the Hindu Deepawali festival. We were supposed to go to a party for this but unfortunately got sick. However, we enjoyed shopping for and learning to wear a saree.

Joe was here for Ramadan last spring and I look forward to seeing the Eids myself next year.

Having all of these religions and cultures makes for a very interesting and colorful country. We are appreciating observing the celebrations and learning about the nuances of the various religions and trying to understand the intersections.