The blue dome
Some fifty-one metres across.
Ezry Abdul Rahman from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia — CC BY 2.0 · Megat asyraf — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Megat asyraf — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Megat asyraf — CC BY-SA 4.0
Malaysia's largest mosque and the second largest in Southeast Asia by capacity, the state mosque of Selangor in the city of Shah Alam. People call it the Blue Mosque for its huge blue and silver dome, some fifty-one metres across and one of the largest religious domes in the world. Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz commissioned it when he made Shah Alam the capital of Selangor in 1974; building began in 1982 and finished in 1988. At its four corners rise minarets each about one hundred and forty-two metres tall; they were once the tallest minarets in the world, and they remain the world's tallest group of minarets. Entry is free, and non-Muslims visit at set times: Monday to Thursday roughly 09:00-12:30 and 14:00-18:30, Friday 09:00-11:30 only, and weekends 09:00-12:30 and 14:30-18:30, with free robes and free guided tours. For Muslims, praying beneath this vast dome is unforgettable. Shah Alam is about twenty-five kilometres west of Kuala Lumpur, half an hour to an hour by car depending on traffic. Make it half a day, perhaps with the nearby i-City lights park in the evening.
Some fifty-one metres across.
About 142 metres each.
The state mosque of Selangor.
Shah Alam, capital of Selangor, about 25 km west of Kuala Lumpur
Yes for lovers of Islamic architecture: it is one of Southeast Asia's great mosques, and the distance is short. Avoid rush-hour traffic and come on a weekday morning.