I got trigger happy again and there's no way i can cover the biggest temple on Penang Island in one or two postings; however, i have no idea what this area was and shall henceforth title it as the place with many life-sized Buddha statues.
It's a pity i didn't have the wide-angle lens and the above is the best i can manage. Of course, in the midst of the excitement (to take more photographs), i have conveniently forgotten that the iphone has the panorama function.
The above will give you a better idea on the number of statues and we are only looking at one row; with four walls surrounding the three-storey building, it's a lot of them!
A notice on the side mentioned a donation of RM 400 that would help towards painting the "holy statues"; obviously, it would increase your merit and hopefully help you to reduce your karma when you die. Sorry, i don't follow that warped rationale.
View ahead; as Kek Lok Si was built on the side of the hill and it's an upward climb to cover every part of the temple, the sight was pretty good although it can't be compared to Penang Hill.
Guess what's the marker that i would take? The KOMTAR tower somewhere middle right in the above photograph. Time to go up the stairs!
Before that, the gigantic guanyin statue that's at the back. New to the scene, it's now identified as the new icon for the temple. What's the old one then? I shall show you shortly as the view was more impressive on the second floor.
萬佛寶塔 - the ten thousand-buddha pagoda; unlike common Chinese pagodas that are slender and tall, this unique structure was the old icon and one that i remember fondly from the trips made to Penang two decades ago.
With so many buildings at the back, i am wondering if we should extend the timing of the van driver as we had expended half of the rental timing and at this point, was not more 25% done with the temple!
Lioness with two cubs on the edge of a wall; notice it's piercing stare in the same way that a mother would do in order to protect its kids.
Towering buildings on the side that i found familiar; don't they look like BTO flats in Singapore?! Anyway, property prices in Penang are said to have spiked in recent years!
View ahead again but this time on the second floor.
A traditional Chinese temple archway; normally, this would be the entrance for a temple. In this case, the only way for you to venture ahead was to climb over the stone fence and roll down the hill.
Three main golden Buddha and Bodhisattva on this level. There was a third level which wasn't accessible (it was gated and locked). On a positive side, it means more time to explore the rest of the temple!
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Location Map
As above; within Kek Lok Si Temple
For the itinerary of my short 3-day, 2-night trip to Penang, please click here.
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