Chulia heritage
Muslim traders from south India.
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One of George Town's oldest streets, laid out soon after the city was founded in 1786, when it marked the settlement's first southern edge. It was first called Malabar Street, then renamed Chulia Street in 1798 after the Chulias, Muslim traders from the Tamil Nadu coast of southern India who lived and traded here. Today the street brings together the city's many strands: old shophouses, Indian Muslim shops, Chinese clan houses such as the Yeoh Kongsi and the small Nagore Durgha Sheriff shrine of the Indian Muslim community, a few steps from the Kapitan Keling Mosque and Little India. It is now the street of budget travellers, full of guesthouses and hostels in its old houses, and it is known in the evening for pavement food stalls, from noodles to Indian Muslim dishes. Some stalls are not halal, so look for the sign. Walking it is free, and it is at its best in the evening when the food stalls light up. It crosses the other heritage streets, so make it part of a walk around George Town.
Muslim traders from south India.
Stalls after sunset.
Hostels in old houses.
George Town, from Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling towards Penang Road
Sri Mahamariamman TempleThe oldest Hindu temple in the state of Penang, at the heart of George Town's Li1 minute walk
Kapitan Keling MosqueFounded by Muslim traders from South India in the early nineteenth century, a fe1 minute walk4.7
Goddess of Mercy TemplePenang's oldest Chinese temple, built in 1800 and known locally as Kuan Yin Teng2 minutes walk
Hock Teik Cheng Sin TempleAn old Chinese temple on Armenian Street in George Town, dating from the mid-nin3 minutes walk
Armenian StreetA narrow street and one of George Town's best known, at the heart of the area on3 minutes walkMuslim traders from the Tamil Nadu coast of southern India who settled in George Town from its founding, built the Kapitan Keling Mosque and shaped the city's trade.