Monday, January 21, 2013

Malaysia: Truly Asia (Batu Caves)

Malaysia borders Singapore to the north; the two countries are separated only by a narrow strait and are connected by a bridge. Because you are entering a new country, you must visit the immigration checkpoints on either side of the bridge, but you can drive across the border.


So, the BF and I have taken a couple of weekend trips to Malaysia, to check out different areas of the country. We visited KL (the capital of Malaysia) and toured around town for a couple of days. In addition to the historical and beautiful sights of the town, we ventured outside of the city a bit to see the Batu Caves.


The Batu Caves are a Hindu temple in the side of the mountain. They are considered the most important Hindu shrine outside of India, an interesting claim to fame in mostly-Muslim Malaysia. During the Thaipusam festival in the spring, THOUSANDS of people travel to the Batu Caves to celebrate the holiday. We were there in November, so there were merely hundreds of people (mostly tourists) visiting the temples. 


The first things we noticed on arriving at the caves were the GINORMOUS statues of key Hindu personalities guarding the entrance to the Caves.


Hanuman, the monkey god of Hinduism, stands 15 meters (that's 50 feet) tall outside the entrance to the caves, in full color and ceremonial garb. Hanuman guards the Rama caves, with depicts the stories of Lord Ramayana. To the right of Hanuman is a 43 meter (140 feet) tall Lord Marugan statue, which guards the entrance to the main caves, or the temple caves. We walked past the statue and climbed the 272 steps up into the caves to view the various shrines within its walls. 


Along the 272 step walkway up to the caves, there were dozens of wild monkeys roaming freely about. The little buggers were kinda cute, but definitely scary and creepy, so I tried to keep my distance, while the BF took pictures. The monkeys LOVED the tourists, who kept feeding them, everything from raw coconuts to oranges, apples, cookies and bread.

Touring around the caves, we saw many of the tenets of Hinduism explained in paintings and carvings along the walls and in dioramas. However, due to the damp, moist air in the caves, much of the artwork was showing its wear. But seeing the caves was still fascinating.

 



 



The pictures and dioramas were displayed in vivid color, representing everything from  the key deities and demons of Hindu as well as sage advice for healthy living. Much of the advice dispensed was either wise or amusing. 

We had a lovely afternoon touring around the caves, learning about Hindu traditions. Growing up in the US, I haven't met many (ok, any) people who profess to follow Hinduism, nor was I a religious studies major in college, so my knowledge of the belief is limited to what was included in a world history class in high school.

Traveling around Asia and seeing the  temples and shrines has been very educational. 


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