Place · Kaumara · Southeast Asia · Selangor, 13 km north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Batu Caves
Limestone hill and cave temple of Murugan outside Kuala Lumpur, where Thamboosamy Pillai set a vel in the cave whose mouth is shaped like a vel's tip; Thaipusam has been kept there since the 1890s, up 272 steps past a 42.7-metre golden Murugan, with a silver chariot from the city and crowds counted in the millions.
Sources: Batu Caves; Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Wikipedia; It began with prayer to Lord Muruga, New Straits Times, January 2016; Batu Caves Thaipusam crowds (New Straits Times, 11 Feb 2025; Free Malaysia Today, 5 Feb 2023) · see Batu Caves's web