The Batu Cave Stories

On the way to the Batu Caves on Day 1, our guide Nelson briefly told us some Hindu/Tamil stories about the gods worshipped at the Batu Caves. Lord Murugan, is the giant gold statue at the entrance to the caves which was unfortunately covered in scaffolding at the time of the visit. Lord Ganesha, was his brother.

The wise mango
Murugan and Ganesha’s parents (Shiva and Parvati) decided to gift the wise mango to the wisest of their sons. They gave them the test of circling the world the fastest. Murugan set off on a peacock to speedily fly around the world. Ganesha decided to walk around his parents, saying “To me, my parents are my world”. The parents declared Ganesha the wisest and Murugan stormed off in a huff to live in the Batu Caves.

Ganesha, The Lord of Removing Obstacles
Shiva was often away for work. While he was gone, Pavati decided to create a boy, Ganesha, to guard her while she bathes. When Shiva returned home the boy would not let him in and so Shiva chopped off his head. Pavati, upset, demands that Shiva find the first living thing he sees to replace their son’s head. It happens to be an elephant. Ganesha is revived and becomes the Lord of removing obstacles and is worshipped at the Batu Caves.

Murugan, The Lord of War
A monster was terrorising the people and they asked Shiva for help. Shiva used his energy to great a spear which he gave to his son Muruga. Muruga led the gods into battle and defeated the monster and became the Lord of War. This story is celebrated at the Batu Caves every year by the Tamil people.Read more