Batu Caves

One of the most mentioned spots to visit in Kuala Lumpur is an area just outside of town known as Batu Caves. The people of Malaysia are from three major ethnic groups - the Malay, Chinese and Indian. Batu Caves is representative of the Indian culture and houses Hindu Temples set into the natural caves of this area.

I was quite aghast as we drove up to the caves. The first view you see os of the giant statue pictured above. It is breathtaking. If you look beside the statue to the left, you will see the other significant feature of Batu Cave - the steps. There are 272 steps from the base to the entrance of the cave. We climbed them all!

My driver and tour guide for my KL exploring was a wonderful man named Bala. Bala is Hindu and therefore the perfect guide for this location. He was able to tell me about the culture and beliefs that are reflected in the various temples and shrines within the cave. Once a year members of the Hindu community begin at midnight in downtown KL and walk to the caves. It takes about twelve hours of constant walking and then there are the stairs. There are thousands who participate and the scene must be amazing.

The gates are decorated both front and back with images of the gods and other symbols which relate the stories. This particular temple is dedicated to the younger son who provides aid to those with physical ailments.

As you climb, the view down is as amazing as the view ahead. Part way up there is a Dark Cave which can be toured for a fee. We did not take that tour as I was in a dress and it is a fairly rugged tour. (You also have to like bats because they line the ceiling.) We did go into the entrance of the dark cave and see the structure of it. 

After finishing our climb (whew!), we entered the main part of the cave and were surrounded by various shrines and temples. The one pictured here is the main temple inside the cave. There are several (and more steps) and Bala told me that he and his wife were married at one of the other temples in the cave.

Each shrine is topped with very colorful statues and all have great meaning to the Hindu religion. I was very lucky to have a guide who could tell me all of the beliefs and stories and make the experience even more meaningful.

The Cave is somewhat different than you might expect since you go up into it rather than below ground. Because of this, there are natural skylights which cast quite a bit of light into the center of the cave as seen the the photo above. The steps there are not part of the 272. These are the inside steps and I didn't count them. I didn't want to know.

After finishing our tour of the temples and shrines inside the cave, we began our trek back to the bottom. The steepness of the stairs is most evident on the way down.

And did I mention the monkeys? Dozens of them scamper all over the stairs and chase each other around as you climb and descend. One visitor was carrying some fruit in a bag and one of the monkeys stole it from her. Another was ripping apart a Pringles can he found. They follow the food. Luckily, we didn't have anything with us.

When you reach the bottom, there is a beautifully landscaped pond along with some market stalls, smaller caves and more temples. We walked this area and at the end came upon the Monkey God.

His job is to protect the parent gods and he looks to be quite adept. The sights, the smalls, the colors are all so rich. It is a wonderful culture to explore and we finished our exploration with a traditional lunch. It was a wonderful experience.