Little India, Kuala Lumpur

Head down to little india for cheap indian food. A few ringits will get you a decent feed to set you up for exploring the markets. Here there are plenty of bargains to haggle for. Go for around a third of the asking price to start with.

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The Little India area is well worth a stroll. It has some lovely old shop houses, market stalls and the Masjid India - India Mosque from which the area takes its name.

We especially enjoyed visiting the Coliseum Hotel at the south end of Jalan TAR. This colonial era hotel was once frequented by Somerset Maughm. It was wondefully atmospheric inside; had an interesting British flavoured menu and although a bit run down was a joy to visit.

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Little India is a small enclave to the north of Masjid Jamek. The area is a bustling enclave of colourful shops selling saris, spices, and sandalwood along with Hindu temples and Indian restaurants all to the soundtrack of Bollywood music blaring out from numerous Bollywood video shops. It's an amazing place to wander around and take in the sights and smells.

KL's 'Little India' teems with a colourful hotch-potch of people & products. The pre-war shophouses sell a profusion of authentic Indian items such as traditional costumes, Indian delicacies & beautiful crafted ornaments & accessories. Nearby, street vendors sell therapeutic massage oils, herbs & roots. Locals flock here for Malay traditional attires & headgear. Walk through the narrow alleys to hunt for unique buys.

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Jalan Masjid India is a popular place in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The road is named after an Indian Mosque built in the 1800s and has become part of KL's history. Some parts of the road has been turned into a pedestrianise mall with covered walk way. Many shops and arcades lie along Jalan Masjid India. Primarily, the place is associated with textile shopping, with some shops specialising in Indian sarees and garments. My main interest to this place however are some of the restaurants serving a variety of cuisine, from Malay to Indian and Mogul dishes. There are several budget hotels in this area to cater for the out of town shoppers too.

The place draw huge crowds during the weekends and before major festive seasons such as the Muslim Id celebration and the Hindu festival of Deepavali. Even if shopping is not in your mind (and blood) the place is worth visiting because of the bazaar like atmosphere of the 60s and to experience the sights, smell and sounds of a Malaysian street mall.

Little India is exciting and vibrant and the place is absolutely alive with colours! Visitors to the place will feel as if they are in a bazaar. The streets are lined with an array of goods that will capture any shopper’s eye – from colourful sarees to jewellery, food to fabrics.

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Abdul Rahma was disastrous. I was afraid only to take out my camera, the place was dirty, dirty, dirty!!!, altough it seems different in the pictures (even mine). It was so dark, all the way from the station to the booths, the people that I saw scared me, we run away, almost running until the LTR station.

Little India is alive with shops, smells, people, fabrics, food and traffic of all kinds. I would certainly recommend that anyone visiting KL travel down there to just walk around and experience this hectic way of life. We stopped at an Indian cafeteria and for about 10RM (each) had enough to feed a person for a week. If you want fabric, this is certainly the place to go.