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Me and Lyn my travel buddy
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Do you know that I have been to Malaysia for one day only? Yeah pretty short really because we spent 2 days in Singapore prior and we should have booked our flight back to Manila via Malaysia. If you want to know how we did a Singapore - Malaysia trip for 4 days only, please click here.
Anyway lessons are there to teach us what to do next time! So here am I giving you the 1st part out of the 3 reasons to visit Malaysia if you only have a day!
The Batu Caves is a popular tourist attraction which features the world's tallest murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Murugan Swami, a Hindu deity. It is located 13 kilometers north of Kuala Lumpur and believed to be around 400 years old! K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader was inspired by the V - shaped entrance of the main cave so he decided to build a temple to Lord Murugan within the caves.
The Murugan statue is 140 feet high and costs approximately 24 million rupees. Constructed in 1890, this statue is made of 1550 cubic meters of concrete, 250 tons of steel bars and 300 liters of gold paint from Thailand.
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| Fewer pigeons |
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| Wow look at these beautiful pigeons! |
On the way to Ramayana Cave, situated at the extreme left, is the Hanuman Statue and temple - built for Hanuman, the noble monkey and aide of Rama.
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| Hanuman Statue |
The Batu Caves consists of 3 main caves: Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave. The Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave has a very high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. You need to climb 276 steps to reach it! The Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave both show lots of Hindu statues and paintings mostly all about the story of Lord Murugan's victory over the demon Soorapadam.
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| Hanuman Temple |
The most desirable time to visit the Batu Caves is during the Thaipusam Festival held every last week of January or first week of February. It's a celebration for the son of Shiva (Subramaniam) and the becoming "one " of Pusan and the Brihaspati stars. The devotees form a procession which starts on the evening before the festival happens at the Sri Mariaman Temple in the town center of Kuala Lumpur. They do a penance by carrying kavadis (locally means a burden) such as a pitcher or a jug. These are usually large and brightly colored combined with various metal hooks and skewers used to pierce the skin, cheeks and tongue.
They are accompanied by their friends and family to cheer them up by dancing, singing and playing violins or drums. As they arrive at the shrine, the Swami removes those things from their bodies. The vow is finally fulfilled.
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| Hanuman Temple Closer View TIPS: There are lot of stray monkeys out there. Please don't bring food that will attract their attention. Wear light attires and flat flip flops since you are going to climb a 272 steps!
Address: Jalan Batu Caves, 68100 Jalan Batu Caves, Selangor, Malaysia
Contact number: +60 3-6189 6284
Transportation: Batu Caves is easily reached by Komuter train using the Batu Caves-Port Klang Route, costing RM 2 for a one-way journey from KL Sentral. Batu Caves may also be reached by bus 11/11d from Bangkok Bank Terminus (Near to Puduraya Terminus) or bus U6 from Titiwangsa.
Source : Wikipedia |
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