Temples of Malaysia

3/20/08 from Jim:

Today I visited a variety of religious institutions in Penang. First was the Kek Lok Si Temple, one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in Southeast Asia – and probably the most beautiful. The pagoda has seven stories and is a mixture of Chinese (first three stories), Thai (fourth and fifth stories), and Burmese (sixth and seventh stories) architecture and craftsmanship. Construction began in 1888 and was completed in 1927. Visiting this place involves a long, hot climb that snakes through a market place filled with souvenirs related to the temple. We are talking about a major tourist attraction here – something that combines religion with Disneyland. The process involves countless stairs and walkways going past shops –just to get to the first story of the temple! The inside of the temple has a long spiral staircase (with 10,000 images of the Buddha). It was a really hot day; I was sweating like crazy by the time I got to the top!

We visited a modern state Muslim mosque – sometimes called the floating mosque because it is built out over the water. Although we were told that we could not enter the mosque, the official on site seemed friendly. He said we could stick our cameras inside and take a few pictures. Then later, he said we could go in after all. The Muslims are a bit more relaxed here than in some places. Our female students were all properly clothed in modest garb – all had head coverings and were not revealing too much skin – so I guess we passed some sort of test and were allowed inside.

Then we visited the Taoist Kuan Yin Temple – Kuan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy. The temple was built in 1800 and is thought to be the oldest Taoist temple in Penang. The female "immortal" Kuan Yin is open to petitions from those who need help and her specialty is compassion for everyone. There are many stories regarding her origin and some scholars argue that she originated with a particular compassionate male deity in India. These scholars believe that, as stories of this deity traveled to China, Kuan Yin became a female. A local story states that Kuan Yin's father, an evil king, demanded that she marry a particular man. She refused, as she wished to devote her life to religion. In one story, she became a Buddhist nun and her father killed her by burning down the nunnery. Kuan Yin was taken by a devil to hell – but her saintliness caused the hellish domain to turn into a paradise. Later, the father developed a terrible skin disease (probably related to the stress of being so evil). His virtuous daughter was able to cure the terminal illness by giving up her eyes and arms (being killed did not end her life as there is life after death – or in another story, the executor's blade shattered again and again so that she could not be executed). This act of filial piety demonstrated her deep compassion – something worthy of worship – particularly since she grants whatever wishes are addressed to her. If you ask for something, Kuan Yin will give it. The temple was filled with people offering incense and burning candles while making petitions.

Afterward, we visited the Anglican Church built in memory of the British Captain Francis Light, founder of Penang.

We also visited some colorful Hindu temples, the kind that Karen really likes, similar to the ones
we visited in India.