The focal point of a 13 acre garden encircling the National Mosque of Malaysia is this graceful 240 foot minaret. Toward the top is a 16-point star resembling a closed umbrella. At the base is a main prayer room capable of accommodating 15,000 worshipers. Non-Muslims cannot enter this beautiful, stained-glass room but you can view it during a free tour. Masjid Negara was commissioned in the late 1950s after Malaysia secured its independence from the British Empire. The Sunni Islam mosque opened in 1965.
