Batu Caves

By Child 1

On Saturday, Mar 16, we went to the famed Hindu shrine, tourist attraction, and natural wonder the Batu Caves. Our friend Connie was in the area, so she visited us. Since she was there, we felt obliged to do something touristy with her.

Batu Caves are formed by limestone, and are said to be around 400 million years old. Indigenous peoples used them as shelters. Many people collected accumulated bat poop and bird remains to use as fertilizer. But K. Thamboosamy Pillai, a rich Indian trader, was inspired by the shape of the mouth of the cave. He thought it look like the vel, the divine spear of the Hindu War God Murugan, so he created a temple dedicated to Lord Murugan inside the caves.

Here is the enormous 140ft high statue of Murugan.

The Batu Caves are also a big rock climbing site, and have many wild animals. On the way up the 272 steps, wild and not-so-friendly monkeys grab people's food right out of their hands. Up those steps, there are two caves you can see. The one with the Hindu temple, and another one called the Dark Caves, which extends further into the mountain and isn't as touched by humans. The Dark Caves were closed on the day we went though. On the ground nearby, there are also little ground-level art gallery caves and food places.

It was extremely hot when we got there, so it was a relief to get in the cool shade of the caves after all those steps. Inside, there were two "rooms." The second one was slightly higher up, and its top was open.

Picture of the first room, taken from the second room.

Picture of the second room, taken from the first room.

  Before we went, we also went to the Art Gallery Cave, and happened upon a dance show that was going on.

It was a long way down!

Us in the Art Gallery Cave.

Here is the dance show.

In all, it was a hot, tiring, and exciting experience. Although we did not get to see the Dark Cave, the main cave was magnificent. We ate and drove home, and that was the end of our Batu Caves journey.