BATU CAVES Kuala Lumpur


	BATU CAVES ...Malaysia's natural wonders... 13 Km from Kuala Lumpur http://en.wikipedia.org Photo Gallery : The beauty of Batu Caves

	Batu Caves - One of Malaysia's great natural wonders Batu Caves consists of 3 three main caves, naturally formed by massive limestone formations. The most impressive and largest of the three caves is the Temple Cave Batu Caves was discovered by K. Thambusamy Pillai, an Indian trader born in Singapore.

Lord Murugan Statue
...the tallest statue of a Hindu deity in Malaysia...

42.7 meters - The largest Murugan statue

The RM2.5 million statue entered the Malaysian Book of Records as the tallest statue of a Hindu deity in the country.

Lord Murugan, a divine power in the Hinduism is worshipped by more than one million devotees around the world.

More on The largest Lord Murugan statue...

Batu Caves is 13km north of Kuala Lumpur . The signature feature of this Hindu cave temple is the 272 steps staircase that leads to the cave. The cave is the temple for Hindu God Lord Muruga, also known as Lord Subramaniam.

A tall golden statue of lord Muruga is standing next to the staircase to welcome visitors. It is the tallest statue of lord Muruga in the world.

To the left of the base of the staircase, there is a cave gallery that visitors can go in. There are colourful sculptures of hindu gods on display.

At the base of the 272 steps stands a 42.7-metre tall statue of Lord Murugan, Declared open on Jan 29, 2006 (Sunday), the tallest in the world.

Two further cave temples at the base of the hill are the Museum Cave and Art Gallery Cave, and there are also other undeveloped caves.

Stalagmites and stalactites are found in the interior of these massive limestone caves together with the Hindu shrines that honour their deities. The caves were discovered by the American explorer William Hornaby in 1881 but have since become associated with the celebration of Thaipusam, a three-day religious festival during January/February.

There are a lot of colorful statues of Hindu gods and goddess and small temples in the dark caves with mysterious atmosphere.

Those with sensitive noses will find the air inside the caves "stinky smell of animals" including cats.

1) Temple Cave
The Temple Cave, which contains small shrines to Hindu gods and a Tamil-style Hindu temple, has a vaulted ceiling 100 meters high and there are 272 steps to get there. Sky inside the cave - right above your head in the middle is a hole where you can see the cloud or the sun.

2) Art Gallery Cave
The Art Gallery Cave, containing holy statues and wall paintings depicting Hindu mythology. This Art Gallery Cave is at the foot of the hill. Access is via a concrete walkway over a small subterranean lake. For this cave only, an entrance fee is charged.

3) Dark Cave
The Dark Cave is a 2 kilo meters (1.2 miles) network of caverns. Several species unique to the area are found here : the trapdoor spider, cave toad, microcode, cave cricket, cave roach and the cave racer snake. Please note that access to the Dark Cave is restricted without permission from Malaysian Nature Society.

Location and How to get there
The Batu Caves are just 13km (7.8 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, at Gombak in Selangor State, Central Malaysia. Accessible from Kuala Lumpur bus..

272 steps to the cave
To reach the Cave you must climb 272 steps to the top...a feat performed by Hindus devotees on the way to Temple Cave to offer prayers to their God. Each year, on Thaipusam festival, as many as 800,000 devotees and other visitors visit the caves.

Festival at batu caves temple - Taipusam Festival
Since 1891, Batu Caves has been the site of Hindu worship. One of the biggest celebrations at Batu Caves, the yearly Taipusam Festival, is celebrated in this Hindu Temple. The festival of Thaipusam is a time when Hindu penitents visiting on a pilgrimage every year from all over Malaysia.

... a little homework before going
After reading a few books on Hinduism, visit Batu Caves with knowledge of Hindu beliefs will broaden one's perspective on human endeavour.Discover Hinduism Terminology such as : Nirvana, Incarnation and it philosophy beauty.

How to go to Batu Caves

How to get there :

By Car

Batu Caves is located at the northern section of the Middle Ring Road II.

From Kuala Lumpur City, use Jalan Sultan Ismail (westbound) road and drive right to the end and turn into Jalan Kinabalu (northbound towards Kepong), connecting to Jalan Kuching at the Duta roundabout, connecting to Jalan Ipoh via overpass at the Kepong roundabout.

After that, look for roadsigns that leads you to Batu Caves or Genting Highlands. You will be exiting the road, up a ramp into a huge roundabout. At the roundabout, take the exit at 3 o'clock (3rd exit) and then keep to left.

About one kilometer from the roundabout you are able to see Batu Caves in sight.

By Bus Cityliner

Use Cityliner bus no. 69 from Jalan Pudu or Intrakota bus no. 11D from Pasar Seni.

By Bus RAPIDKL

By using RAPIDKL, you can get reasonable and cozy transportation to Batu Cave from KL City..

From the Titiwangsa Terminal, take RapidKL bus route U6. The bus will stop at the entrance to Batu Caves. Inform the bus driver of your destination so that you will not miss pressing the bell to stop the bus.

The fare is RM2 and the ticket is a day pass for all RapidKL Uxx routes. Keep the ticket for the return journey. All you have to do is to show it to the the bus driver upon boarding.

Keep the ticket in your water proof purse or a PVC beg to protect it from sweat and sudden rain. In 2006 I started the 272 steps with bright red hot sun in the sky. And came out from the dark caves to discover the outside was suddently in heavy rain. Unprepared every one caught in the downpour......and gone is the thin paper ticket kept in the back pocket.

By Taxi

Take a taxi to Batu Caves, as the site is relatively isolated. The trip is RM10 to RM15 under normal traffic condition

By Train

In 2009 one will be able to get to Batu Caves from Kuala Lumpur City by train.

The present railroad beside Batu Caves is currently under sonstruction to upgraded the extension of the KTM commuter train service from Sentul.

在大馬，相信無人不曉黑風洞。黑風洞原是被森林所覆蓋的石灰岩山，1787年被美國探險家發現。
它是興都教的聖地，坐落在吉隆坡北上距11公里的鵝麥山上。黑風洞一年365天都會有遊客觀光，每年一月下旬或二月上旬舉行大寶森節時更是熱鬧。
信徒背著如孔雀開屏的卡瓦第，鐵鉤鉤在身上也不覺得痛。每年大寶森節，黑風洞必定人潮擁擠不已。
傳說牛是印度神的使者，因此在印度文化中，牛是神聖的動物，受興都教徒膜拜。
當時發現黑風洞的探險家在附近考察，剛好嗅到蝙蝠糞便的氣味，警覺附近有個大
蝙蝠洞，于是細意尋找，竟然發現一個可容納約一萬人的大洞和附近其他一些山洞，洞內有大量石灰岩組成的鐘乳石。
記得小時候和家人去黑風洞，洞內四處可見倒掛的蝙蝠，數量很多；前陣子到黑風洞，也許是遊客量日益增多，間接影響蝙蝠生態環境的關係，當年蝙蝠在頭上穿梭的景象已不復在，只能在腦中回味了。

事實上，黑風洞是由三個大洞和無數個小洞形成。其中，最大的廟洞（Temple Cave）因為洞頂已塌下，所以也稱為“光洞”，其入口是在一座山的中間，地面的大樹剛好把它遮住。另外，位于半山的“暗洞”（Dark Cave）已開放給遊客參觀。有句俗話說：不登長城等于沒到過中國，那么，沒踏上272級階梯到達洞口也不算到過黑風洞。
洞內有一個印度教神廟，每年大寶森節，這裡是提供興都教徒膜拜的場所。站在黑風洞口，可以眺望附近的橡膠園或錫礦場。
除此以外，山下也設有岩石博物館，展示色彩鮮明的神像和壁畫供參觀。除了進入“暗洞”有收費，參觀黑風洞是免費的。