Istana Budaya

The Istana Budaya or The Palace of Culture, founded in September 1999, is Malaysia's main venue for all types of theatre including musical theater, operetta, classical concert and opera from local and international performances. It is located next to the National Art Gallery in Jalan Tun Razak at the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

The idea of this state-of-the-art theater began with the proposal in 1964 to establish a cultural centre. The construction work began in 1995 and was completed three years later. It was built at a cost of RM210 million with theater's floor area of 21,000 m as part of the 54,400 m cultural complex. The Istana Budaya was officially opened by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed in 1999.