On a recent trip to Kuala Lumpur, I made sure to visit the colorful shrines and temples at the Batu Caves. A short distance from downtown, its is a good spot to visit even on a short visit to the city.







As you enter to the grounds of the Batu Caves, you will be awed by the enormous golden statue of Lord Murugan and the rainbow steps leading to the main cave. 

Lord Murugan is the chief deity of the ancient Tamils, and the Hindu God of War & Victory. The statue made of reinforced concrete and gold paint is the tallest image of Lord Murugan in the world at 140 feet tall.   

View from the top of the stairs

In order to reach the main cave, you’ll need to climb 272 step concrete colorful stairs. Originally made with wooden steps, the concrete stairs were built to accommodate the increasing number of devotees that visit. They also carry their offerings up to the temple thus needing a sturdier steeps. 

The steps are steep and not that wide so it’s quite a feat. There staircase is divided into 4 sections so you choose which lane you’ll take. Usually the left ones are for those climbing up and the right side is for those descending. I would suggest taking the inner lanes (middle ones).

can you spot the monkey on the fence?

Some devotees leave their shoes at the bottom of the steps and some carry pitchers of milk on their head as offerings. You may opt to wear your shoes as you climb. Make sure to remove them if you want to go the main temple. There are signages that remind visitors where you should take off your shoes.



As a religious site, make sure to wear modest attire or you may opt to buy or rent scarves.  Make sure your knees and shoulders are covered. 

Another factor to mindful in climbing and when visiting the Batu Caves are the long tailed macaques that reside and are a main sight on the grounds. Usually given food by many, they also tend to grab food, water bottles, and items from inadvertent volunteers. Be mindful of where as you move around the grounds and climb up the stairs. As they are still wild animals, they potentially can climb on you or bite. On our visit luckily we didn’t encounter any mischievous one but also used bags that wouldn’t  be interesting to them and made sure to observe where the nearest ones while we climbed. Take note that sometimes they’ll suddenly by climbing alongside on the steps or the banister. 

There are small stores at the top that sell drinks and souvenirs in case you’ll need a drink after the climb but better to bring your own. 

As you enter the main cave, you will  find the SRI Subramaniar  temple -the main temple on the left side. If you’d like to enter the main temple, you’ll need to remove your shoes. Make sure not to get in the way of devotees.

Another flight of stairs lead you to smaller temple and some shrines. From here you can get a good view of the main cave.

view from the back of the cave from the top of the stairs

The Batu Caves is a limestone hill composed of 3 main caves and a few smaller ones. The largest cave is  Gua Kecil which has 100 meters high ceiling and houses several Hindu shrines. The Gua Galeri  (Art Gallery Cave)  is at the bottom of the steps and have drawings of Hindu Mythology while the Gua Gelap (Dark Cave)  is 2 km and requires permission from the Malaysian Nature Society. You can book guided tours for this cave . Entrance is half way up the stairs and may sometimes be closed. Best to book ahead of time if you want to do some spelunking this particular cave.

The 100 plus year old temple inside the Batu Caves is one of the major pilgrimage sites for Hindus around the world. A Natural treasure, houses the main temple and several temples and shrines. It is visited by thousands of devotees everyday and by a million of visitors during the 3 day celebration of Thaipusam. It has also become popular with tourists after the painting of the concrete steps leading the the main cave in 2018.  

Our visit was just a few days after the Thaipusam Hindu Festival and the grounds were still teaming with shops and many devotees visiting. During the festival there is a busy procession between temples and shrines were devotees shower Lord Murugan withe gifts and devotions, and there are numerous devotees who go through piercings of their body (some in their tongue and faces) and they bears painful burdens (kavadis) as part of their penance and show of devotion. 

Before we headed down, we stopped at a shrine and observed some devotees interacting with a Hindu priest. We were invited and we were given a blessing and a piece of red thread tied to our left wrist. You’ll need to remove your shoes before approaching the shrine and priest. You can also give any amount of donation.

The sacred red thread is called Kalava or translates as “above all”. the popular belief is that it is invoked with blessings of the Hindu deities to whom the puja or temple is dedicated to. It’s blessing from the deity believed to protect the wearer from disease, enemies and danger. Also know as “Raksha thread” it also brings happiness, health, and prosperity and symbolizes long life and protection again enemies. It is usually placed on the right wrist on men and on the left wrist for women. 

A visit to the Batu Caves is a must on a visit to Kuala Lumpur. You’ll need 2 hours to half a day depending on how many caves you’re planning on visiting and if you’ll be climbing the stairs. 

ENTRANCE FEE: free (if you want to visit Ramayana Cave MYR 1 & Dark Cave MYR35)

HOW TO GET HERE: You can take the train then walk or take a cab/grab. 

NEAREST TRAIN STATION:  Batu Caves

HOURS OF OPERATION: 6:00-7:00 PM  Main Gate (Gate 1) 5:45 AM-9:00 PM (opened longer during the Thaipusam)