Most of us are familiar with Batu Caves, with the famous 272-step stairs leading up to the entrance of the Sri Subramaniar Swamy cave temple. But a few days ago, the temple’s steps was the talk on social media after photos of its newly painted rainbow steps went viral, seen with bright hues of red, blue, yellow, green, and orange.

According to news site TwentyTwo13, the repainting of the steps involved a supply of excess paint involving about 100 volunteers, young and old, completing the job in two and a half days to transform the prominent landmark.

The site also said that this was the “first of its kind in the world”, according to the temple committee chairman, Tan Sri R. Nadarajah. The concept was impromptu and came about when there was extra paint from when they repainted the temple, and so it was used to paint the stairs.

“No other temple in the world has got such a vibrant coloured stairway,” he said.

“We are bringing back the real colour of South Indian Hindu temples. The colours of temples in the past used to be vibrant but along the way people only used one or two colours,” explained one of the temple trustees, Datuk N. Sivakumar, on the significance of the coloured steps.

Being a place of worship and a tourist destination, the temple committee said they hoped more people would be attracted to visit the landmark, specifically the younger generation. But so far, it seems that their work was a step in the right direction, with netizens expressing their admiration for the vibrant colours.

Here’s a look at some of the photos circulating online, as compiled by SAYS:

What do you think about this makeover?