Thursday, 3 April 2008

Batu caves


A 40+ metre high statue of a Hindu God, probably Shiva.

There are 272 steps leading up to a limestone cave where the temple proper is.

Every year there is a procession of guys with skewers through their skin who make the climb to purge their sins or some such. I'd probably need more steps.


As it happens, there were a few more steps once you are inside.

Also lots of monkeys and pigeons.

One of the statues - a lacto-challenged lady-cow hybrid. Seems to have an over abundance of teats of one sort or another. The titular head of the faith, perhaps.
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3 comments:

  1. Those wings will never get her off the ground!

    Lovely to follow your travels, especially to hear about your visit to Hliza'a, they certainly did you proud! I really like the idea of a savoury rice birthday cake.

    Thanks for finding the time to stop by at mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lucy is right. At best they may make for a distraction, but lifting power? Especially if she has to take the bucket with her....
    as for the Shiva guess, sorry. No cigar tere. Close, though. That maybe one of the that are par of Shiva, but, whoever it is, here are the promenent differences.
    Shiva has no less tan four arms, and carries both a trident and a drum. It manifests a male and while contemplative, is a sure enemy to those who side with injustice and evil. You? As long as you don't graffitti up any of their staues, you'll be OK.
    I'm not entirely sure without seeing the darned things in front of me, but I want to think that the figure you see there is exhibiting wisdom and learning (by the staff in hand) and the continuation of species.

    I dunno. Either that or he's the guy that takes your money when you go into bars.

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  3. you got a case of Lord Murugan there, my friend. from within the bowels of computer intelligence comes:


    "Greetings to the devotees of the omnipotent Tamil Deity Lord Muruga!

    In Tamil Nadu as the popular maxim goes, "Wherever there is a mount there is a shrine for lord Muruga".

    This Portal dedicated to the devotees of Lord Muruga across the globe. Lord Muruga - called by various favourite names like Karthilkeya, Arumuga, Shanmuga, Guhan, Skanda, Subramanya and Kumara - by his ardent devotees - is a Hindu god. He is considered to be the son of Lord Shiva - the Hindu God of distruction and the brother of Lord Ganesh - the most famous elephant headed god of India.

    The portal provides vital information on temples of Muruga - across the globe, with special emphasis on the arupadai veedu group of shrines. It includes specific details like location, legends, purana, mythology, places to stay, festivals, links to other websites etc. on these six most famous temples of Lord Muruga - called Aru padai veedu. "

    ah well. Mankind's greatest achievement, hands down....
    Creativity.

    ReplyDelete

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