Batu Caves

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). As early as 1860, Chinese settlers began excavating guano for fertilising their vegetable patches. However, they became famous only after the limestone hills were recorded by colonial authorities including Daly and Syers as well as American Naturalist, William Hornaday in 1878. 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 Murugan within the caves. In 1890, Pillai, who also founded the Sri Mahamariamman Temple, Kuala Lumpur, installed the murti (consecrated statue) of Sri Murugan Swami in what is today known as the Temple Cave. Since 1892, the Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai (which falls in late January/early February) has been celebrated there. Wooden steps up to the Temple Cave were built in 1920 and have since been replaced by 272 concrete steps. Of the various cave temples that comprise the site, the largest and best known is the Temple Cave, so named because it houses several Hindu shrines beneath its high vaulted ceiling. In August 2018 the 272 steps were painted in an extraordinary colour scheme, with each set of steps painted in a different range of colours. However accusations were almost immediately made by the National Heritage Department for a breach of law requiring authorisation for renovations within 200 metres of a heritage site. The temple's management disputed their failure to receive authorisation.

Royal Selangor Visitor Centre

Royal Selangor Visitor Centre is the go-to place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to experience pewter, both as a beautiful piece to be admired and as a craft. Wander through intriguing museum exhibits and witness real-time pewter crafting and end your tour with hands-on pewtersmithing workshops. Royal Selangor Visitor Centre is recognised as one of the top tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur, winning the Traveller's Choice Award by TripAdvisor in 2015. The world's largest pewter tankard, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records, was made by Royal Selangor in 1985 to commemorate its centenary. Displayed at Royal Selangor headquarters in Setapak, it is 1.987 metres tall, weighs 1,557 kg and has a capacity of 2,796 litres. The giant tankard has travelled around the world to places such as Canada, Australia, Singapore and China.