Chitty Village & Museum

Welcome to one of the most hidden and extraordinary cultural enclaves in Southeast Asia lah — Kampung Chitty, the ancestral home of the Malacca Chettis, a community you have probably never heard of but absolutely need to know about. The Chettis, or Chitty people, are the Indian Peranakans of Malacca. Their story begins in the fifteenth century when Tamil Hindu traders from the Coromandel Coast of India settled in Malacca during the golden age of the Sultanate. These merchants married local Malay and Javanese women, and over six centuries, they forged a completely unique cultural identity that blends Hindu religious traditions with Malay language, dress, and customs. Today, there are only about five hundred Chettis left in this village, making them one of the smallest and most endangered ethnic communities in all of Malaysia. But what they lack in numbers, they more than make up for in cultural richness, kan? The Chitty Museum is the heart of the village. Step inside and you will discover six centuries of Indo-Malay cultural fusion — traditional costumes that look like Malay baju kebaya but incorporate Hindu motifs, cooking utensils used to prepare a cuisine that blends South Indian spices with Malay flavors, and...