Batu Caves

Batu Caves are ancient caves with limestone, whose age is approximately 400 million years. This area is considered a large shrine for Hindu residents, which is located outside of India. Caves are located near the capital of Malaysia, in a city called Kuala Lumpur.

Batu Caves formed in the middle of the rainforest, in the middle of the cave with limestone, which formed a whole network here. They were discovered to humanity in 1878. The caves have found their name in honor of the Sungai Batu river flowing here.

At the hill itself, which houses the Batu caves, there is a huge statue that was erected in honor of the god Murugan – the youngest heir to Shiva. This sculpture rises by 43 meters, its construction took place over three years. About 550 cubic meters were spent on its creation. meters of concrete solution, as well as a large number of different beams and at least 300 liters. gold paint.

It is known that the Taipusam festival, which is banned in India itself, is held annually in Batu caves. He is visited by about 1.5 million pilgrims. This celebration is associated with the presentation of gifts to Muruganu, which are carried in a very interesting way – by attaching fishing gear to their body.

All the underground space of the caves is made up of three halls, as well as slightly slightly smaller rooms. The most famous part of the cave complex is considered the Temple Cave, which can be approached by passing a famous staircase, which has 272 steps. This staircase, as well as the number of steps in it, is very well known by all the numerous pilgrims. A little further, or rather lower, is the so-called dark Cave, which consists of a whole complex of cameras, the length of which is close to 2 km. The decoration of the cave is centuries-old stalactites. There is also a cave called the Gallery of Arts, which has become famous for its statues and various wall paintings that present Hindu mythology.

Usually the local monkeys are very happy with the tourists, which accompanies guests along the stairs on the road to the main cave. These long-tailed animals like to pose on camera, which causes joyful emotions in tourists. Local merchants have opened a whole business selling visitors food to feed monkeys. But you should not feed the animals, otherwise they will not lag behind you and will bother you to the cave itself. You can also often watch how macaques try to steal some things from tourists, so you need to behave extremely restrained so as not to provoke them to aggression.

The local area also lures climbers, which are happy to conquer 150 meter peaks of the hills. For climbers, close 170 routes of varying complexity are presented, including for beginners.

And finally, advice: if you are an ordinary tourist, then you should not buy wreaths at the entrance to the cave that are sold for pilgrims. Respect the religion of other people.