A Brief History and Location
Situated in the busiest and the most visited part of the Malaysian capital, near the Gin Raja Laut Road, the Mardeka or Independence Square of Kuala Lumpur is admired very much by tourists for its lush green cricket field lying right in its centre. The place is popular in people as the venue for celebrating the New Year’s Eve and the demonstration of the national day parade. Every year, at 12:00. A. M. of Jan 1st, the entire area, spread over approximately 6.2 acres, is illuminated by fireworks. At the same time, thousands of cell phones light up the whole area. The place where now the junction is located was originally a cricket ground for the Royal Salinger Club and also the administrative centre of Kuala Lumpur.
On August 31, 1957, when
Malaysia gained independence from Britain after a period of 150 years rule,
that was the site where the announcement of the freedom of the country was made.
The word merdeka in the Malay language means independence; therefore, it was
named Dataron Merdeka or Independence Square.
People from every corner of the Malaysian metropolis come to the place in the afternoon to relax in its pleasant grassy cricket field. Just near the square there is a leather museum next to which is the Town Hall. Several buildings are spread around the square showing a touch of the Indian-Mogul architecture. A number of huge skyscraper buildings are situated in the vicinity of the square occupied mostly by banks’ offices.
Merdeka Square is traditionally the site where many important events have happened; such as, the recently held Barsih rally for free and fair elections of 2013 that headed to it. Moreover, one can have a detailed study of the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century architecture over here.
Views of Tourists about Merdica Square
Many tourists believe that a visit to the Malaysian capital is not complete without seeing the historical Merdica Square. One of them says it is walking distance from several worth seeing places like the China Town,, Central Market and the finely constructed Jameq Mosque. Another one claims this clean and green place is the best one in the city to relax. In the opinion of many one can observe a fine blend of the old and new skyline of the city standing in the midst of the square.