Malaysia’s Batu Caves, where spirituality meets adventure

Easily one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, Batu Caves is a series of limestone caves and cave temples located in Gombak, Malaysia. Batu Caves is dedicated to Lord Murugan (god of war). Before the 400 million years old cave complex became a popular Hindu shrine in the late 1800s, the cave complex was often used as shelters by the Temuan people, an indigenous group of people belonging to the tribe of Orang Asli. Orang Asli are the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia.


The cave complex has a particular cave called the Temple Cave, which is now one of the most important sites of pilgrimage for the Hindus. In 1890, K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian Tamil trader installed a statue of Lord Murugan and dedicated the cave as a place of worship. Since then, every year, in the month of January/February, the Temple Cave turns into the venue for the Thaipusam festival.


The Temple Cave is the largest among all other cave temples in the area. One will have to climb 272 concrete steps to get to the sacred Temple Cave where one will find several Hindu shrines.




Apart from the Temple Cave, there are other cave temples such as the Art Gallery Cave, Museum Cave and Ramayana Cave. As their name suggests, the Art Gallery Cave and Museum Cave have a very large collection of Hindu religious pieces of art such as statues and paintings. The Ramayana Cave, as the name suggests, comprises artwork that tells us the story of Rama. Outside the cave, there’s a 15m tall statue of Hanuman.



At present, the cave complex is mostly recognised by the 43m tall statue of Lord Murugan, the world’s second-tallest statue of Lord Murugan.




If temple hopping isn’t your cup of tea, you can explore the Batu Caves as an adventurer. There are more than 160 climbing routes on the North Eastern side of the cave complex. This side of the cave complex is popularly known as the Damai Caves. A thrill seeker can go rock climbing, abseiling and spelunking!