Central Market and Kasturi Walk

Central Market or Pasar Seni, is a famous heritage site and a well-renowned tourist attraction in Kuala Lumpur. Tactically the Central Market is built at Jalan Hang Kasturi, in the heart of the city. It is very much close to another popular tourist attraction, Petaling Street. During beginning days, todays location of the Central Market was used as an open wet market for Kuala Lumpurs general public. Later, a permanent structure was built to accommodate all vendors under one roof. Today, the market no more remains as a market only; rather it is marked as a heritage site by the Malaysian Heritage Society. The building is now used as a Centre for Malaysian Culture, Arts and Handicrafts. Traditional goods are available here in Central Market at a very reasonable price. Numbers of stalls are there to offer you the best items at an affordable range. The items sold here basically include the variety of local handicrafts, kebaya, arts, batik and songket . The stalls are divided into three separate zones, namely- Straits Chinese, Lorong Melayu Malay Street, and Little India. These zones are rich in the variety of each race and give a vivid idea about the cultural differences of the various races in Malaysia. A zone is especially dedicated to the divergent Malacca cultural heritage, the Malacca Jonker Street. It comprises of double-storey and single-storey Baba and Nyonya-styled architectural buildings. A Batik Emporium is also found here to showcase innumerable batik designer labels with the best batik items including home furnishings, bags and the most important is apparels. Just have a glimpse of the attractive shops of Central Market like Asli Craft, the Arch Collection, Success Portrait for lovely souvenirs, and Borneo Pearls etc. There are quite a few shops offering the Wau Bulan traditional Malay kite, typical PETRONAS Twin Towers replicas, Keris, Wayang Kulit, and the most common is obviously the traditional Batik. During traditional Malayan festivals shops are decorated in a special way exhibiting the best in display. Special items are sold during special festivals just as that of India. The special items include Chinese decorative items during Chinese New Year, kuih raya during Hari Raya, and wonderful sarees during Deepavali. Every day a daily heritage walk starts from the Tourist Information Centre in the Central Market. On the other hand, Kasturi Walk is located just next to the Central Market. Numerous amazing shops are found here as well. A hawker selling the special Malayan dishes is the unique feature of this market.