National Palace 

The Istana Negara is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Raja Permaisuri Agong. It also symbolizes the country’s constitutional monarchy and the position of Islam as the religion of the federation.

The palace is located in Jalan Duta and covers the area of 97.65 hectares. It was built to replace the old National Palace (which became a museum) located on Istana Road about eight kilometer from a new Palace.

Istana Negara was officially opened on 15 November, 2011 during the reign of His Majesty the King XIII, Al-Wathiqu Billah Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin during his tenure as the nation’s 13th Yang di Pertuan Agong.

The palace has three main components which are the formal, the royal and the administration. It was built with two distinctively large gold domes, accompanied by other 20 smaller domes. Those 22 domes were designed to look like a traditional betel nut leaves arrangement. The palace is designed by the architect firm Kumpulan Seni Reka Sdn Bhd.

The well-manicured and landscaped green mounds surrounding the palace serves as a park and a buffer area for safety. The Istana Negara is not open for visitor. However, the visitors can still enjoy the magnificent view and architecture from the outside.

Securing the main entrance are the Palace Guards from the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment and vedette that attract tourists to pose for pictures with them.

The palace is not accessible via public transportation. However it is one of the destination for those to travelled with the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. The preferred mode of transportation is by car.

Visit official website.

Image by: Bernard Spragg. NZ

Opening Hours

Monday – Friday : 9,00 a.m – 1.00 p.m, 3:30 p.m –9.00p p.m
Saturday – Sunday: Closed

Admission

No entrance fee.

Location

Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim, Bukit Damansara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

View Map.

Hear from Others

Istana Negara is a unique palace as compared to other well renowned palaces such as the Istana Nurul Iman or the Buckingham Palace. Those palaces were long built to cater for the royal families who reign the country. However, as the royal throne for the whole Malaysia keeps changing every 5 years, it was specifically built to fit the purpose.

Khairul Idzwan
kakiJalans

What I can say is that, the view from this new Istana Negara is simply breathtaking especially the Kuala Lumpur skyline. If you stand just outside of the Istana Negara, just outside of the beautiful yellow dome there, you will be presented with the beautiful Kuala Lumpur skyline, I don’t have the opportunity just yet to visit this place during sunrise, I guess the view will be fantastic.

Wazari Wazir
WazariWazir

A visit to the new King’s Palace is a must for first time visitors to Malaysia. Thousands throng to the main gate to admire its beauty and to take photographs with the sentries or guards mounted on horses. If you are lucky you can catch the daily changing of the guards just before noon time.

Fellow Traveller
TravelWithAlex

Nearby Attractions

National Museum

The Museum provides an overview of Malaysian history and culture from the prehistoric era until today.

KL Sentral Station

Kuala Lumpur Sentral is a transit-oriented development that houses the main railway station of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.  As the main Intercity transportation hub, it hosts Monorail services, LRT services, KTM ETS Services, KTM Komuter Services and ERL Service under its roof.

Brickfields

Brickfields is depicted as the Kuala Lumpur “Little India”. It is a shopping district with the majority of Indian population.