About this place

The Batu Caves is located on a limestone outcrop some 13km from the city of Kuala Lumpur. It is a very popular tourist destination and receives hundreds of visitors daily.

The site has a number of Hindu temples at ground level and also the famous Sri Subramaniam Swamy Temple which is accessible by climbing a series of 272 steps up a concrete staircase, about 200 ft above the ground.

The huge Caves was made a Hindu temple site in 1891 by Thamboosamy Pillai. He was an Indian trader and a leader of the Tamil community in the early days of Kuala Lumpur. He dedicated the Caves Temple to the Lord Murugan (sometimes known as Lord Subramaniam).

A 140ft tall statue of the Lord Murugan stands at the foot of the caves. Construction of this statue started began in 2004 and was completed in 2005 through the work of 15 sculptors from India. It was opened to the public on Jan 2006 during the Thaipusam Festival. It statue consumed 250 tons of steel bars, 1,550 cubic meters of concrete and 300 liters of gold paint.

The Caves is also famous for the Annual Thaipusam Festival of the Hindus which was held recently on the 17th Jan 2014.