made by maude

Buckle up, you're in for a long post. It's a late one also. We visited the Batu Caves on the weekend, and I'm only NOW posting about it because I forgot to take the camera along so used my phone camera, and it has taken me this long to send the images from my phone to the laptop. Ok?

The entrance to the Batu Caves, a Hindu temple here in KL. It's dedicated to the god Murugan. Here he is, gold and glorious.

This is the elaborately decorated archway to the 272 steps that lead to the Batu Caves. It is very very beautiful. My images don't do it justice but they are my souvenirs so...

Three friends begin the climb...

as many monkeys dart around, food in mouths. Those monkeys will happily leap up and snatch any food you have straight from your hands. It looks quite frightning, so we left our peanuts at home.

A temple inside the caves.

Looking outside from within, a souviner shop to the right.

The descent.

Deities decorate the other side of the entrance archway.


In true KL style there was plenty of rubbish scattered along the sides of the cave :( We only visited the main 'cathedral cave', but it was pretty special. There's some history on the Batu Caves here at reliable (!) wikipedia. There is the yearly Hindu Thaipusum festival in KL where devotees make a pilgrimage to Batu Caves. Some carry jugs or containers filled with offerings, others attach offerings to their bodies by piercing or hooking their skin, often dragging the offerings behind them... Obviously the Batu Caves are a deeply important to Hindus, and the day we were there there were many (gentler) forms of devotion taking place.