Climbing Batu Caves
So, it's been just over two months now since I started training with a group of people every Saturday morning. Usually we will be doing a 14km trek at a forest reserve / park.
Yesterday however the group leader switched up our training and took us to an iconic destination Batu Caves Murugan temple, but most people know when you say Batu Caves, it's hard to miss the temple and the reigning lord there Murugan. The temple has been a religious destination for close to a century if not longer. It has never lost it's special mystism but it has gained a lot of attention over the years. It is now a top tourist destination in Kuala Lumpur, whilst remaining a top religious destination for all those who have an affinity to the divine vibrations of the place.
image source
The actual "temple" started off with just a small shrine deep inside a cave, but also had a small temple built at the base. The actual cave shrine sits about 100m above the ground, and has 272 steep steps leading up to the entrance of the cave.
In 2006, a 104 ft statue of Lord Murugan was unveiled and is the tallest of its kind in the world. There is more to this favourite destination, but this entry is more on my experience of the day, so I shall direct you to the Wikipedia link here.
As usual, we started our training at about 8:30am after a briefing session. The goal was to climb 13 times! Yeah....that was a lofty idea. I just managed 5. The more seasoned ones did 11. But I was there for the experience not to wear my knees out.
Whislt walking up the stairs I noticed there was a lot of rubbish. Of course I was inclined to think how irresponsible of us humans. But was told it was the monkeys. And then I thought again, how irresponsible of us humans. Yes it's nice to feed the monkeys, and they are friendly. But we really need to have greater responsibility towards our surroundings and how we interact with nature and all the beings on this planet. If we want to feed them, we should be prepared to clean up after them.
And so, as I was looking around for a bag to pick up the trash, one of my team members beat me to it and hauled up a huge bag! And we got to picking up rubbish as we did our training. I have to say, it got a lot less tedious! The mind had something else to focus on.
Soon, we saw a few others joining in. Strangers started picking up trash too....not just our team members. Sometimes, all it takes is one person to start something. It is almost like it gives permission to every else to exercise their civic mindedness and step forth.
All in all, it was a good day. I was more amused watching the biped apes gawking at the little monkeys! ;) Made for good entertainment.
Remaining pictures are from my camera. ;)
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STOPClimbing those steps 13 times? wow! That's a harsh training!
Those cute monkeys can be some naughty culprits, leaving litter everywhere. While visiting a temple in Sri Lanka we were warned not to give them food or get too close to them.
Yes it was. My legs are so sore with just 5! I think i'd be stuck in bed for a week had I done 13.
Yes, they are notorious for snatching things. There used to be signages not to feed them. I think ppl ignore it so badly anyway, they seem to have disappeared along with common sense in the world ;)
Batu caves is still one of my place to visit. Is in my place to visit list! But always there’s no extra time for me whenever I’m in KL. Is always about work!
Oh yes! It's definitely worth a visit! In fact make it a day trip out in the area. It's just a stone's throw away from the FRIM park. So you could visit both places while you're in the "area"!