So here I am sharing my experience to the ‘Batu caves’ which houses the tallest ever statue of Lord Murugan in the world, situated in Selangor, Malaysia.
Situated about 13 kms north of the capital city Kuala Lumpur, it is well connected by a variety of trains in the city. We took the monorail to KL Sentral and then the KTM Komuter to Batu caves. These are fully air-conditioned high speed trains, very well maintained ones, promising a definite pleasant drive!
Out of the station, crossing a few shops and florists en route, I saw myself at the foot-hill of the Batu Caves.
A pleasant surprise was spotting a 50 ft tall statue of Lord Hanuman there. This statue marked entrance to the Ramayana Cave along with a small temple dedicated to Bajrang Bali (as He’s popularly known in the Northern parts of India), the strong one.
Having got the bliss of Lord Hanuman, it was the Batu caves right beside.
Oh yes, how could we not see monkeys around the place housing such a divinely statue of Lord Hanuman. :) The Batu caves seemed to be the abode of plenty of monkeys super active and like ever ready to ‘eat’. People say they can cause harm but we were lucky enough to be blessed with their charm in their absolute ‘busy schedule’ (read en route to finding food or eating). It was lovely to see some tourists taking the risk of sporting pictures with them. Yes, you’re right! I certainly wasn’t one among them.
You look straight and you see a huge golden colored statue of Lord Subramaniam (also popularly known as Lord Murugan) right outside the Batu caves. The first few words I uttered looking at Him this close, were ‘Wow!!! He is MAJESTIC!!!’ The statue runs as high as 140 ft. The tranquil look on His face is heavenly! I bet this look of His will keep your eyes of admiration fixed on Him until you get swayed by the surrounding distractions.
Historical piece of information – The Batu caves is said to be around 400 million years old. It is a limestone hill and takes its name from the Batu river, which flows past the hill.
We had to now climb a fleet of 272 steps to enter the Batu caves.
When I first heard the number (read 272), the picture in my mind was that of a very easy climb.
When I now saw the steps, the picture in my mind was that of a not so tough climb, if not an easy one.
When I started my way to climb…‘Ouch! This was so not comforting!’
It was maddening steep! My legs had to get a pit stop of about a minute after every 70 steps on an average. Once we made it to the top and into the caves, the feeling was awesome!
A total contrast it was! While it was scorching hot outside, it was stunningly cool & breezy within. Every part of my body seemed to rejoice the ambiance. It was fun!
The look was totally raw and abundant in natural abstract images. There were small shrines of the Lord inside and a few other statues of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
There were a few local shops there, selling a variety of things like colorful sacred threads, photos of Lord Murugan’s statue, beautiful images of His vehicle (read peacock), wall hangings & decorative arts of the Hindu deities.
There is a dark cave tour too which is the other portion of the Batu caves.
The view of town from top was worth the pain to step up!
A few other things that caught my eyes…A king-size bowl to offer coconuts to the Lord.
A king-size bowl for lighting the ritual fire to make offerings to the Lord.
A portion of rock housing series of taps to quench the thirst of many.
Absolutely people friendly pigeons enjoying this space of the Lords.
The tallest statue of Lord Murugan in the world I could see!!!
- Ahi (Blessed!)
Awesome gal! U have given a good piece of info of the place n the pics r cool!! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much Ash!!! :)
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