Photographs: Mosques in Malaysia

One of the major attractions of Malaysia Tourism is the mosques – these mosques are a very integral part of the everyday life of Malaysians. The architectural styles of the mosques in Malaysia can be classified into 3 types with corresponding built periods, which are as follows:

Vernacular Mosques (18th century to date)

Examples of some building features which were built in response to the warm and humid climatic conditions are pitched roofs to enable rain water to run off quickly, stilts to raise the mosques above ground level to avoid floods; and many openings including louvered windows, fanlights and carving panels to allow natural cross ventilation of air. Building materials such as timber, bamboo, bricks, stone, clay tiles and attap are widely used in the vernacular mosques as they are easily available locally. Like the Malay houses, the vernacular mosques portray high level of craftsmanship.

Colonial Mosques (1795 to 1957)

Most of the mosques built during the colonial period are architecturally different from the vernacular mosques in terms of scale and proportion, form, features and building materials. Domes (either onion-shaped or top-shaped), turrets, classical columns, pilasters, pointed arches, keystones, pediments and plastered renderings on cornices and capitals are common features found in the colonial mosques. Effectively, the British architects, at the turn of the century, had combined the Moorish influence and the classical styles to portray an Islamic image to the mosques.

Modern Mosques (1958 to date)

The architectural styles of the modern mosques have changed gradually in parallel with the development in structural advances, construction methods, contemporary designs of mosques as well as increased local interests toward Islamic architecture. With the advent of science and technology, modern mosques are constructed in a larger scale to accommodate the increasing number of Friday congregations. Concrete, bricks, steel, stone and marble are commonly used in the construction of modern mosques. Onion-shaped or top-shaped domes, tall minarets and high ceilings are common features found in the modern mosques. The modern mosques usually incorporate well-designed landscape elements including plants, water features, patterned pavements, garden lightings and signages.

Here on Malaysia Travel Guide, we showcase some amazing photographs on Malaysia mosques.

Putra Mosque, Putrajaya Malaysia

by bismikaallahuma

by randomgirl

by ccdoh1

by akijinn

Sultan Salahuddin Mosque, Selangor

by macloo

Masjid Ubudiah Mosque

by richardpluck

Masjid Wilayah Persekutuan, Kuala Lumpur

by pjfncs27

by pjfncs27

Masjid Terapung, Penang

by hrdrck

by rescuedog

Crystal Mosque, Kuala Terengganu

by shutterhack

Mosque architecture information from here.