Handpicked experience · Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A hill mined for bat droppings became one of the most important Hindu sites outside India — and its famous colours date from 2018.
Discover Malaysian countryside on a half-day tour.
Visit the mysterious limestone caves — Batu Caves.
Explore the beautiful natural scenery of Kuala Lumpur's suburbs.
Visit local showrooms displaying traditional artifacts and silk clothing.
A private vehicle, so the timing is yours to set
Commentary on how the capital spread into its outskirts
A limestone hill with an industrial past under a religious present
The main cavern, open to the sky at one end
Smaller shrines at ground level that most visitors walk past
Four and a half hours by private car from central Kuala Lumpur, taking in the outer city on the way to Batu Caves, with time at the temple complex and the climb into the main cavern.
Before any temple existed here, these caverns were worked for bat guano. Through the second half of the nineteenth century the deposits were dug out and sold as fertiliser to the plantations and market gardens around the growing town, and the hill was an industrial site rather than a sacred one.
That is worth carrying up the steps with you. The vast chamber above, open to the sky at one end, was known to Chinese labourers, to Temuan people who had used the hill for far longer, and to colonial surveyors — all before it became one of the most important Hindu sites outside India.
The shrine was founded around 1890 by an Indian trader in Kuala Lumpur, and the choice of site was not arbitrary. The entrance to the main cave was seen to resemble the vel — the spear carried by Murugan, to whom the temple is dedicated — and a natural feature reading as a god's weapon was reason enough.
The community that grew around it were largely Tamil labourers brought to Malaya for the rubber and rail work, and the temple became the anchor of their religious calendar. That is the origin of the enormous festival the site is known for, which still draws crowds far beyond the capacity of any ordinary temple.
The steps are famous now for their colours, which are recent. They were repainted in bright bands in 2018, and the work was done without the approval of the heritage authorities, since the hill sits within a protected area.
The row that followed was real, and it captures something about the place: Batu Caves is simultaneously a working temple answering to its own community, a national heritage site answering to the state, and a photograph that several million people a year come to take. Those three things do not always agree.
Shoulders and knees must be covered, and wraps are available at the base if you need one. The climb is 272 steps, steep in places and hot at any hour, so bring water and take it slowly.
The macaques on the staircase are opportunists. Anything visible in your hand — a drink, a snack, a phone held loosely — is a target, and the sensible approach is simply to carry nothing openly on the way up.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Mining. Bat droppings accumulate for centuries in a dry cave and make a potent fertiliser, which is why caves across Southeast Asia were dug out commercially long before anyone thought of them as attractions.
Everybody local, essentially. A cave being worked by labourers is not a secret — the hill was on survey maps and in ledgers well before it appeared in any devotional account.
The entrance to the main cave was seen to resemble the vel, the spear carried by Murugan. A natural feature reading as a god's weapon was reason enough.
An Indian trader based in Kuala Lumpur, around 1890. The community that formed around it was largely Tamil labourers brought to Malaya for rubber and railway work.
No. They were repainted in bright bands in 2018, and before that the staircase was plain.
Yes. The work was done without heritage approval, since the hill sits inside a protected area, and the dispute that followed was a real one.
It is 272 steps, steep in places and hot at any hour. Carry water and go slowly rather than racing the people around you.
They are opportunists and they watch hands. Drinks, snacks and loosely held phones all get taken, so carry nothing openly on the way up.