My time here in Kuala Lumpur is soon coming to an end, tomorrow I'll travel to Malacca, a major tourist destination in Malaysia. I have already shared my first impressions of Kuala Lumpur (KL), in case you're interested and missed it, you can read the post here: My First Impressions of Kuala Lumpur - And The Best Hotel Ever!
In that post, I wrote that I would be sharing about my visit to the famous Batu Caves so let's start with that π
The Batu Caves
As one of the major tourist attractions, I expected a lot of people. And sure, it was a lot of people but it could have been worse. I took a train there and it wasn't crowded at all, I was more or less the only one boarding the train from that specific station. The train ride from the city center takes about 30 minutes.
In the picture to the left below you see the Murugan statue and the entrance is to the left. You have to climb 272 steps to the top of the Batu Caves. In the picture, you see people on their way up or down. I didn't find the climbing of steps to be much of a challenge, I have heard some people describing it as exhausting. It's all relative π To the right below you see the cave from the inside and the main temple is to the right. I visited just after the yearly Thaipusam festival, during the festival it would have been more or less impossible to move around like I did. The Batu Caves have become a pilgrimage site not only for Malaysian Hindus, but Hindus worldwide. I saw a lot of devotees mixed with all the tourists, I felt I didn't want to be in their way.
More pictures of the main temple.
Monkeys were everywhere π
The 'main' cave and temple were very impressive, for sure. But the lesser-known attraction, Ramayana Cave, had the biggest impact on me. I didn't even know about the cave before I went but as I passed by a man gave me a flyer about the place and I decided to pay the small entry fee (about β¬2, the main cave is free), and inside I went.
The first thing you see is a lot of sculptures depicting the mythology of Ramayana.
You then have to climb some very steep stairs and at 25 meters above the ground, you can witness the second tallest natural Lingam in the world, 12 feet or 3,7 meters (according to the flyer I got). You see it in the picture to the left below. If you don't feel the energy of this Lingam I don't know what's wrong with you π
The Sri Kailash Cave is situated at the same level, a big dark cave with a Shiva statue. The picture doesn't do the place justice at all. The cave had a very strong energy. I think I spent about 30 minutes there, in stillness. And that was the amazing thing about this whole cave, there were hardly any people! I couldn't understand why. Maybe because it's not as known or because you have to pay a small fee.
Thean Hou Temple
Just a couple of days ago I visited another major attraction here in KL, the Thean Hou Temple, which is a temple of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu. The temple is situated on a hill and it's hard to get there by public transport. I thought of getting a Grab ride but there weren't any cars nearby and I didn't want to wait forever. So I decided to walk π It was a sunny day and indeed, uphill it was! But it wasn't that long of a walk, about 25 minutes from Little India (more about that later). I didn't see anyone else walking there though, a lot of cars passed me by, they probably thought I was crazy walking in the heat. (I'm pretty heat resistant you should know).
The temple was absolutely stunning! It was crowded with Chinese people, there to worship. It was very moving for me to witness. I know my pictures are usually without people so it might be difficult to understand how crowded the place was. Below to the left you see people though, that's just outside of the prayer hall.
Since the temple is situated on a hill you could enjoy a very nice view of the city. From here you can also see the parking lot, it was more or less full.
The temple is relatively new, finished in 1987.
Below to the left you see Tian Hou Niang Niang (Mazu) inside of the prayer hall. There are three altars inside but I didn't want to disturb all the worshippers, it was a lot of people in the prayer hall!
In the picture to the right, you see story number 17 of the Twenty-Four Chinese Filial Exemplars She Breastfed Her Mother-In-Law. Rather interesting π
The Serenity Park just when you enter the temple area.
I also visited Brickfields, the area called Little India in KL. It was a colorful area and I had some great Indian food there.
I'll finish with a picture taken close to my hotel. It's been nice to explore this city for almost 3 weeks but I feel it's time to move on. I think it's soon time for me to fully relax on a beach. But first, Malacca!
Thanks for reading πΈ
Wishing you a lovely day π