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Technically in Selangor state to the north of the city, Batu Caves are considered one of Kuala Lumpur's top tourist attractions.

Batu simply means "stone" in Malay, but more specifically, the Batu Caves are limestone. Obviously, the caves themselves are much older, but the site first became a religious destination in 1891. In 1891, the first Sri Subramaniam temple in the cave was constructed in honour of Murugan, the Hindu god of war, and the shrines and temples have mushroomed since. The iconic 42.7-metre (140-foot) gold-painted statue of Murugan in front of the caves — reportedly the tallest statue of this deity in the world — was added in 2006.

How to Get to Batu Caves by KTM Train

It is easy and cheap to go to Batu Caves using the KTM Seremban Line, which is a straight shot north from KL Sentral. It involves little more than buying a ticket — or better yet, tapping your MyRapid card on the turnstile — and getting on the train. The journey takes about 40 minutes each direction.

Although travelgasm.com has seen plenty of vandalised trains around the world (Rome comes to mind), we were shocked to see dozens of windows with cracked and shattered glass — on multiple rides — marring such an otherwise clean and modern train. Our initial thought was that maybe the train had been shot up at the railyard, but these broken windows apparently are from projectiles being hurled at the train while it is operational.

It would make us quite happy if this projectile problem is resolved before you ride the KTM (send us an email about the condition of the train when you use it), but these attacks have been ongoing for many years, so it seems unlikely to cease. One year, the train company reportedly replaced 1,300 broken windows. Apparently, the local government is powerless to stop the attacks, which made us wonder just how close to anarchy Kuala Lumpur could be. It is a safe bet this criminal activity never would be tolerated in Singapore.

We always prefer to use mass transit, but because of these projectile attacks, we strongly recommend that you stay away from the windows on any KTM train, especially to Batu Caves.

If you would rather book a tour, there also is a well-reviewed group tour to Batu Caves that also includes other destinations in Kuala Lumpur like the Colonial District, Chinatown, and Little India.

Beware the Hungry Monkeys

Once you make it to the Batu Caves, you no doubt will notice that the place is surrounded by long-tailed macaques. Monkeys can be cute — and these seem to be cared for in some capacity by the temple — but remember they are not pets. Like humans, monkeys can be erratic and aggressive, particularly when hungry. They often will attempt to steal food and drinks and sometimes even will try to open bags or snatch a camera or mobile device. Do not feed the monkeys. Do not carry food or drinks around the caves. If you want to take photos, keep your distance.

The Different Batu Caves

There are four major caves at the Batu Caves site, three of which currently are open to the public:

• Temple Cave - Sometimes called Cathedral Cave, it is the primary attraction. Accessible after a climb of 272 steps, this is the original temple with a variety of interior shrines dedicated to Murugan as well as other Hindu deities. Free; donation suggested.
• Ramayana Cave - This cave is just to the left after exiting the walkway from the train station. It tells the Sanskrit epic of Ramayana using brightly colored statues and plenty of neon lights. If you are not familar with the story, it is "Prince Rama's quest to rescue his beloved wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana with the help of an army of monkeys." We paid to enter this cave once; it was okay. It would have been better had a bat not emptied its bowels on us. Grumble. RM 5 (US$1.05).
• Cave Villa - Opened in 2008, we never have entered this cave at the base of the mountain, but it reportedly contains a mini-zoo. RM 15 (US$3.20).
• Dark Cave - Home of an endangered spider, portions of this cave were open to the public for occasional tours, but tours were discontinued in early 2019.

Because the Temple Cave is a formal religious site, remember that you will need to dress respectfully with clothing that fully covers the shoulders, knees, midriff, and back.

There is an assortment of opening hours listed online, but based on the posted hours at the train station when we last visited, the Batu Caves are open from 7 AM to 8 PM. We would suggest visiting in the early morning when there are fewer tourists.

We never have eaten around Batu Caves, but there is a gauntlet of snack sellers in the covered walkway from the train station in addition to a handful of Indian restaurants next to the car park for tour buses. Of these eateries, Rani Restoran appears to be the best reviewed.

Below, we've mapped out the location of Batu Caves and the short walk from the KTM Batu Caves Station.

How to Get Here: Take KMT Seremban (Line 1, Royal Blue) to Batu Caves (KC05). Exit to the right from the train to go to the Batu Caves. Because projectiles are far too commonly thrown at the train, stay away from the windows when using any KTM line.

travelgasm.com's Batu Caves Map (Full Screen)

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