Other than the Petronas Twin
Towers, the Batu Caves is the other place I wanted to see in Kuala Lumpur when
I started plotting the itinerary of my trip to the capital of Malaysia way back
in 2007. That was my very first airplane ride courtesy of my brother who let me
tag along with him. Coincidentally, that journey was what kick-started my
wanderlust. A few days after arriving home, I quickly wrote a short narrative
about it on the new defunct Multiply blogging platform.
However, of all the places we
visited during that memorable four days, we missed out on Batu Caves due to
lack of time "visit it next time, you will have another chance", my brother told me as if sensing that I would be indeed
getting another shot at it.
History of Batu Caves
Named after the Malay word "batu", which means
"rock", Batu Caves is one of the most visited Hindi shrine outside
of India. Dedicated to Lord Murugan—whose 140 feet high statue outside the cave
is the tallest Lord Murugan statue in the world—the Hindu God of war, Batu's Temple
Cave was first constructed in 1891 inside a cave where the limestone was formed
more than 400 million years ago.
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| Lord Murugan up-close. |
Designed in classic Dravidian architecture,
the temple cave features a number of Hindu shrines with connecting
passageways to the smaller Ramayana Cave, Museum Cave and Art Gallery Cave. The
statue of Lord Murugan was only built in 2006.
Another Shot at Seeing Batu Caves
Several years later as I
embarked on solo trips, I actually encountered another chance to visit Batu
Caves. Spending a few days in Kuala Lumpur after my second trip to Myanmar, I
finally visited Batu Caves. However, as if the travel Gods remembered my
desire to see this during the earliest days of my traveling life, I was gifted
with a couple of chances to once again climb its 272 steps—the most recent even
serving as a tour guide to a sweet English woman.
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| The colorful steps to Batu Caves |
The second time’s a charm without
a doubt as I joined fellow travel writers and friends from Cebu Pacific on a
media familiarization tour of Kuala Lumpur. By this time, the stairwell of Batu Caves had
already undergone a major face lift. Gone are the plain colors of the steps and
was replaced with a vibrant appearance—as the long stairway was repainted with various color schemes producing different range of hues when viewed from below
and afar.
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| We meet again my friend |
The redesign work didn’t come
without some controversy, as a number of heritage advocates accused the
management of Batu Caves of breaching the law regarding the banning of
renovations done "within 200 meters of a heritage site".
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| The shrines inside the cave |
Setting the hullaballoo aside
in my head, I savored the new look of Batu Caves taking a few
photographs before dashing up racing with the mischievous
macaques who are always out and about, ready to snag stuff from unsuspecting
tourists.
I saw one snatched a plastic
water bottle, another a bag of chips, another a banana. Most of them though were fed directly with bits of cookies by amused tourists thus creating foot traffic
on the stairs. It was a quick stop and about a couple of hours later, we were in
the bus heading to our next destination. I thought that would be the end of my
Batu Caves incursion. Little do I know, I will be blessed with my third audience
with Lord Murugan and Hanuman—whose 50-foot-tall statue stands inside the
complex—just a few days later.
Playing Tour Guide to Rosanna
Since I extended my stay in
Kuala Lumpur after my travel blogger friends departed, I met up with a few
friends in the city. I met Rosanna through my friend Mayan and instantly, we got
along well. That same day, I accompanied her on a walking tour around Kuala Lumpur. "I love to walk, and it is better to see the city this way" she tells me.
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| Rosanna |
We started from Chinatown to
Masjid Jamek Mosque to Petaling Street to Little India until we reached Merdeka
Square. I thought that would be it until Rosanna tells me "I want to see the twin towers" and so
off we went to Petronas Towers on foot.
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| Blending well with the colorful steps |
If the Batu Caves isn’t located
several Metro train stations away, we would have gone to it on foot. So, that
evening before we went our separate ways back to our hotels we agreed to meet
up the next morning for me to accompany her to Batu Caves.
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| Plotting his next move |
My second day of being a tour
guide was a lot relaxed as we only went to the Batu Caves and had dinner
afterwards. I got to know more of Rosanna during the long rest we had sitting
on a ledge inside the Temple Cave.
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| Hello there |
The day wouldn’t end there but
my memories of Batu Caves is more than enough to dethrone the frustration of
not seeing it during my first visit to Kuala Lumpur. Similar to events in life
that covers up the misgivings of the past, Batu Caves showed me that chances
are given to those who seek it over and over.
Whatever I search for remains a big
question mark for now. At that time, I was just happy seeing the smile on
Rosanna’s face—satisfied that I somehow made her time traveling in Kuala Lumpur
a lil better.
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