Kek Lok Si Temple Penang 15 Dec 2010

 

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After our visit to the Thai and Burmese Temples, we headed to the Penang's most popular attraction, the Kek Lok Si Temple. And it is said to be the biggest and most beautiful Buddhist temple complex in Malaysia. It is also one of the first being built in the South East Asia region. Driving and passing through all the small stalls along the hillside way up to the temple, really feels like just want to stop the van and come down and shop…There are a lot of food stalls too…Yummy…yummy…

Arguably the largest and most beautiful Buddhist temple complex in Malaysia, the Kek Lok Si temple, which is also referred to as the 'Temple of Supreme Bliss' or the 'Pure Land Temple', covers the expanse of a sloping, east-facing hillside at Air Itam, just to the west of the city of Georgetown.

As we walked into the temple's compound, we quickly noticed that there is a big and huge a 30.2m bronze statue of the Kuan Yin which replaced the previous white plaster Kuan Yin statue which was damaged due to a fire a few years earlier. The bronze statue is located on the hillside above the pagoda while the head of the previous statue which survived the fire is preserved and placed on the right hand corner of the new statue.

There is an additional ornate shelter for the Kuan Yin statue was constructed. 16 carved dragon pillars were built, carrying the top of three concentric octagonal roof. The Kuan Yin stand still on the hillside and overseeing the beautiful Penang Island.

There are large boulders that bear inscriptions of Chinese verses, beautiful sculptures which represents the 12 Chinese Horoscope. The serene air and peaceful ambience of the compound grounds reflects the tranquillity borne of meditation and prayers within the temple's interior. The children were most happy to see the big compounds and the koi inside the pond.

One of the most impressive feature of the temple is the 'Ban Po That Pagoda', or the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas. As the name goes, this pagoda is made of octagonal tiers adorned with quite a number of statues of the Buddha. This pagoda was built in honour of Bodhisattva Tsi Tsuang Wang, an enlightened soul who, despite having attained the state, declined to enter Nirvana and chose, instead, to help bring others to salvation.

There is an inclined lift which carry the visitors up and down the hill. The kids had their first experience of sitting the lift, it was quite a fun one, as they can see through the clear tempered glass window. There is a souvenirs shop and a few praying halls, but we just do not have much time and rush for our next and last destination – the Snake Temple…Szzzz…

Source from http://www.virtualmalaysia.com/