The Magnificent Batu Caves of Malaysia

-
On a laid back Sunday afternoon without traffic, once can reach this magnificent destination in 20 minutes from the KL city center. The Batu Cave temple complex rises almost 100 m above the ground and consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a 100 m-high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps. My wife had no problems climbing the steps this time, as they were relatively "easier" compared to the Great Wall climb. The cave is located in Gombak district, 13 kilometers (8 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of the nearby village.

The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia. The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli). There was a festival happening during our visit. There were several elaborate dances and traditional Hindu music playing with long queues of devotees inside the temples.

The Batu Caves was promoted as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader. He was inspired by the 'vel'-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga within the caves. A 42.7-metre (140 ft) high statue of Lord Muruga was unveiled in January 2006, having taken 3 years to construct. It is the tallest Lord Muruga statue in the world.

Popular posts from this blog

Rodolfo S. Cornejo on Stamp

-
Image
Rodolfo S. Cornejo is the first Filipino composer who received an honory degree from a government recognized music school in the United States . He is also remarkable for his pianistic and compositional know-how by improvising a piano composition at the spur of the moment.   He was born on 15 May 1909 in Singalong , Manila . At the age of six, he had his formal piano lessons. After 2 years, he played fourteen pieces and six encores for his recital. In that same year, he became the organist of the Pasay Catholic Church when they moved in. When he was ten, he composed a piano piece entitled, " Glissando Waltz ". He became so keen and inspired about music by his mother's genuine support.    At 13, he composed the "Salute", a military march that was also published. He also composed the Philippine Suite: Paalam sa Pagakadalaga , Okaka Variations , Paalam na Sinta , Oriental Fantasy , Nocturne in G, Piano Concerto no. 1 , and the Moro Wedding Dance . At 14, tw
Read more

The Visayas Art Fair 2024- Connect, Create, Cultivate

-
Image
  How do you show appreciation for your art and culture? By owning it- it is a piece of your heritage - a future relic. It does not have to be very beautiful or costly. But if it "speaks" to you, acquire it, keep it, because you like looking at it, your descendants will thank you for it. Your painting might be in the Cebu City museum in 2068!    Take the time to visit the Visayas Art Fair 2024. Twenty eight galleries from all over the country showcasing deeper visual imageries and a diversity of styles and representations. The VAF aims to expound on the relationship between the visual arts and the creative industries that fuel their economic potential.    The Visayas Art Fair was a historical undertaking in 2021 with the banner, Connecting The Islands Through Art, initiated by the National Commission for Culture and Arts , together with the Cebu Design Week Inc., Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas , Sacred Heart School for Boys Batch 1985 Foundation, a
Read more

Manuel H. Bernabe on Stamps

-
Image
Manuel H. Bernabe (1890-1960) “King of Balagtasan ” in Spanish was a poet, linguist and politician, Manuel Bernabe was born on February 17, 1890 to Timoteo Bernabe and Emilia Hernandez of Paranaque, Rizal .   At the age of 10, he already started writing verses. He studied at the Ateneo de Manila where he finished his Bachelor of Arts degree with high academic standing in 1907, and then took up law at the University of Santo Tomas , but not able to took up the bar exams. In 1910, Manuel’s first poem was published in the Renacimento Filipino.   In 1912, he translated Virgil’s Aenid from Latin to Spanish. In 1913, he received an award for his poems: “Himno al Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (Hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus ), “El Zapote,” and “Espana a Filipinas”.   In 1912, he joined the staff of La Democracia and in 1918, of La Vanguardia of the Roces Publications . He was a columnist but from time to time he also published poems and short stories in the magazine Exelsior.   Manuel
Read more

Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era

-
Image
" Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era " is a 276-page coffee table book of nearly 600 of the best photographs, postcards , stereoviews and lantern glass slides of Cebu and its many towns taken between 1870-1945. More than just a mere showcasing of rare, never-before-seen images, the book also provides a treasure trove of information accompanying nearly every picture. The author, Lucy Urgello Miller has been collecting vintage Philippine postcards and photographs for over 20 years, the thrust of her collection being Cebu . She acquired 90% of her Cebu collection in the United States where she is living with her husband Richard "Rick" Miller. Most of the collection was bought at antique postcards shows. Lucy has about 1,000 pictures and postcards on Cebu but she selected only the best and most interesting for this book. Mommy Gingging, Lucy and my wife Grace A blue-blooded Theresian, Lucy spent her entire education from kind
Read more

The Kudyapi- The Philippine Two-Stringed Lute

-
Image
The kutiyapi or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Maguindanao people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo . It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax . The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as from the jackfruit tree.   Common to all kutiyapi instruments, a constant drone is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a kebit or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related Southeast Asian "boat lutes", which were influenced by varying degrees by Indian concepts of melody and scale via the Malay archipelago .   Among the T'Boli , Manobo and other Lumad groups, the instrument (known as Hegelung, Kudyapi or Fedlung) is tuned to a major pentatonic scale . Among groups like the Bagobo , the Kutiyapi (Kudlung) is also used as
Read more

Tops Artfest 2024- A Celebration of Art

-
Image
The TOPS ARTFEST 2024: Why The Cebu Community Should Not Miss It?  By Celso Duazo Pepito I was happy to graduate in Fine Arts in 1981 at the University of the Philippines Cebu . But for the next two to three decades of  my art practice, my journey as member of creative community were full of difficulties and challenges. In the 80's and 90's we had very limited platforms for exhibition, encouraging us to organize our exhibits in hotels , restaurants , malls , hospitals , etc . Added to our problems is the limited art collectors in Cebu during that time. Attendees of exhibitions, more often than not were same people who have the heart for collecting artworks. And there were instances when these collectors will shy away from art exhibitions, with valid reasons that they do not have enough walls to hang their collections. With this problem in mind, few artists have opted to look for another job, if only to survive. There were few passionate painters, however, that opted to nurture
Read more