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Batu Caves - Places to Visit in
Kuala Lumpur
Destinations and Sights - Outskirts of Kuala
Lumpur
Batu Caves has grown to become an important devotional site and a sacred place
for the Hindu's in Malaysia. It is also a highly popular tourist spot.
 Taking
its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill, Batu
Caves is said to have been discovered by K. Thamboosamy an Indian trader in the
1800s.
There are main caves and a number of smaller ones. The caves are made of
limestone and 400 meters long and 100 meter high.
The first cave temple was established in 1891, and wooden steps up to the Temple
Cave were built in 1920. Of the various cave temples that comprise the site, the
largest and best known is the Temple or Cathedral Cave, so named because it
houses several Hindu shrines beneath its 100 m vaulted ceiling.
A 42.7m high statue of Lord Murugan was unveiled in Jan 2006, having taken 3
years to construct.
 There
are 272 steps that a visitor has to climb in order to access the temple at the
summit of the hill. Many of the shrines relate the story of Lord Murugan' the
son of Shiva (Subramaniam). At the base of the hill are two more cave temples,
Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave, both of which are full of Hindu statues and
paintings.
The site serves as the focus of the Hindu community's yearly Thaipusam Festival
which attracts more than 1.5 million pilgrims, making it one of the largest
religious gathering in the country
The site is also well known for its numerous macaque monkeys
A little below the Temple Cave is the Dark Cave, a two-kilometer network of
relatively untouched caverns. In order to maintain the cave's ecology, access is
restricted.
Batu Caves is located about 11km to the north of Kuala Lumpur
Best way to Visit - City &
Country Tour / Batu Caves & Kuala
Gandah Elephant Sanctuary
DESTINATION & SIGHTS ~
ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY
Batu Caves /
Selangor Pewter /
Sunway Lagoon /
Templer Park /
FRIM /
Putrajaya
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