Six names for one god, and Tamil devotees switch between them without a second thought. Murugan. Subramaniar. Kartikeya. Skanda. Shanmuga. Kumara. Each carries its own regional flavor and its own story, but they all point back to the same deity, the son of Shiva and...
Ask anyone from Penang about “the Murugan temple” and there’s really only one they mean. Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani sits on a hill in Air Itam, reached by 513 steps or, if your knees have opinions about that, a funicular railway built specifically...
Tucked between the shophouses and street food stalls of Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple doesn’t announce itself quietly. Its gopuram, the entrance tower, rises in tiers packed with sculpted deities in a riot of color, standing out...
The first thing you notice isn’t the temple. It’s the color, a 140-foot gold statue of Lord Murugan catching the morning light, standing guard at the base of a limestone cliff outside Kuala Lumpur. Behind him, 272 steps climb straight up into the rock....
Walk through Kuala Lumpur before dawn during Thaipusam and you’ll see it before you hear it: thousands of bare feet moving toward Batu Caves, some carrying kavadi frames decorated with peacock feathers, some carrying nothing but a pot of milk balanced on their...
