BATU CAVES

Holy Hindu shrine in a massive, monkey-filled limestone cavern.

During Thaipusam, Annual Celebration of the victory of good over evil, hundreds of thousands of spiritual pilgrims ascend the 272 stairs of the Batu Caves bearing kavadis, a symbolic burden that includes intricate body piercings.

This is the Malaysian version of the Hindu festival celebrated by the Tamil community in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and Mauritius.

Thaipusam comes from the junction of two terms, the Tamil month called "Thai" and the star called "Pusam."

Colorful Steps

Observed every year in January or February according to the Tamil calendar, the Thaipusam Festival honors the Hindu god Lord Murugan and his victory over the demon Surapadman with his vel or lance.

Festival goers wearing yellow or orange follow rituals, including head shaving, and bring kavadis, indicating the fulfilment of the vows, to Lord Murugan, to thank him for the favours he has done or in advance for the potential favours he has sought.

The most popular kavadis are fruit, flowers, or a bucket of milk, but some are as elaborate as heavy peacock-feather-covered shrines borne on the back, depicting the vanquished demon that was transformed into a peacock.

The most famous pictures of the festival are devotees with cheeks and tongues pierced with ceremonial lances, and others holding large kavadis with hooks in their backs. The piercings, along with fasting and ritual, trigger a trance-like state intended to focus thoughts inward. A swami removes piercings in the caves, lifting up the metaphysical pressure.

Located seven miles north of Kuala Lumpur, the caves became famous in 1878 by the Zoologist William Temple Hornaday, best known at the time when the Pygmy Tribesman was on display in a monkey house in New York Zoological Park.

During Malaysia's colonial heyday, the caves were a common place for British couples to picnic. In more modern times, the stairs have been added.

  

The gallery of the main Temple Cave at the top of the stairs is 300 feet high and 1200 feet wide, with small openings letting in natural light. A smaller gallery is up another battle of stairs, often open to the stars. There are also two smaller caves at the site.

In 2006, a 140-foot-high concrete statue of Lord Murugan was installed at the foot of the stairs in the weeks preceding Thaipusam, a giant chrysanthemum garland draped around his shoulders by a construction crane.

The caves are home to colonies of long-tailed macaque monkeys that wander the stairs and tunnels and are known to sunglasses, cameras, and snacks from visitors.

Author: Shobana Manokaran