Glass temple draws in international tourists

Popular attraction: A statue of the deity Maha Vishnu at the temple in Johor Baru, Johor.

NUSAJAYA: The country’s first glass temple in Johor Baru has become a popular tourist destination not only among locals but also foreigners. 

The number of international visitors, mostly from Japan, China and Hong Kong, increased from 3,115 in 2012 to 3,580 last year. State Domestic Trade, Consumer­ism and Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said that the Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Glass Temple had been a big hit among tourists over the past few years.

“Overall, the temple received some 10,000 visitors in 2012 and some 15,000 visitors last year,” he said. He added that over 9,000 visitors had already visited the temple since January this year.

Tee said this in reply to questions posed by Andrew Chen Kah Eng (DAP-Stulang) and K. Raven Kumar (BN-Tenggaroh) during the state assembly sitting here yesterday.

“We have been widely promoting the temple through many promotional materials, including pamphlets that were issued by the Tourism Department as well as on the department’s website. “During a recent work trip to India, we encouraged tourism agencies to highlight the glass temple in their tourism packages to attract more Indian nationals,” he added.

Tee also said the state government would look into installing proper signboards leading to the glass temple to avoid road confusion among tourists. “Considering that the temple is located within the Johor Baru City Centre project development, the Tourism Department will be working with the Johor Baru City Council as well as the Iskandar Regional Development Authority to ensure that the signs are put up and maintained,” he said.

On parking issues, Tee said the temple was located within a developing area and parking woes were bound to happen, but the temple management would cooperate with MBJB to ensure that vehicles were parked properly and did not create traffic congestion.
-thestar online.