Thaipusam at Batu Caves

23 Jan 2008 - I could not recall when was the last time I actually woke up this early. I have to leave my warm bed at 4am as we agreed to meet in KTM serdang station at 5am....I was excited to visit 1 of my 5 must visit site before I finished my uni years....yes....Batu Caves during Thaipusam

After picking up Frankie, we arrived at KTM Serdang at 5.05am. There were only 2 devotees there waiting for the komuter. But when we finally found out that the earliest train only
arrived at 6.15, I was cursing to myself. Why are we an hour early? ...but I couldn't complain
to the others as I was the one that actually arrange for this outing. Somehow we have 
been mislead to believe that the komuter starts its operation as early as the sun rise.

So we lepak in that quiet station until the komuter finally arrived at 6.21am.

We board the komuter and had an interchange in the KL Sentral to board the next Komuter 
to Sentul.

By 7.30am, we arrived at the Sentul Komuter station. There we disembark from the komuter and hop on the special chartered train to Batu Caves. The journey there wasn't that far but it took us awhile as the train stopped for a while in the middle of our journey.

Finally at close to 8am, we arrived at the Batu Caves station. Have not aware that there was actually a Batu Cave station along the track. It was just beside the temple. We were so excited looking out at the crowd....

First we headed for the river to witness the washing and shaving ritual. Then we witness the piercing. It was not as horrible as I have imagined it before. At this same spot, those devotees put on the heavy but nicely decorated kavadi. According to the people, a huge kavadi can weight up to a person's weight. So I truely admire their courage and strength to carry one on them.

Then we followed one of the group and marched towards the steep 272 steps into the Temple Cave. This stair was really crowded. Most of the times, I was pushed forward. I could not even see my toe infront of me....

So when we finally reached the top....the smoke from the burning of the incense filled the atmosphere. Luckily the thick wall of the cave was still cooling.

After doing our prayers and looking around, we headed back down.

We finally boarded our train back at 11.30am and we arrived in KTM Serdang station at 1.15pm.

We have our lunch at the Restaurant Leong Ya...finally a great meal since 4am...

This Thaipusam outing was really interesting. I am proud to be a Malaysian and to be in a country that is blessed with rich cultures....and thanks to Imran, Gan, Frankie, Racheal, Sin Mei and my sis and bro for such a great company.

To know more about the Thaipusam rituals and the Batu caves, you can visit:
http://www.murugan.org/temples/batumalai.htm
http://www.malaysiasite.nl/batucaveseng.htm
http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=6420