worth looking at. Unfortunately I did not quite grab the full size of
the complex and consequently did not give myself enoght time to fully
visit the temple. It is claimed to be the largest Buddhist complex in
S.E.Asia, although some references just say it is the largest in
Malaysia. Either way it is large.
The bus ride from the Komtar took about one hour. During this time we
travelled through mostly urban areas although there was quite a change
from the bussle of downtown Georgetown to the various rural centres we
travelled through. There were groups of local village communities
infront of me between more modern buildings. We passed some large
schools and a modern and large mosque. Of course there were other
mosques and various temples but this one was noticeable. In fact I was
so interested in looking at it that I didn't take a photograph.
The bus dropped me off in the little town of Air Item, beside the
market. In front of me but higher on the ciff top sat the largest temple
complex that I have ever seen. It looked like a set from a Hollywood
movie such as Lost Horizon. It brought to mind images of Tibet or remote
areas of China.
In fact the actual site was selected by the founder as it reminded him
of the landscape in his home area of China. Construction which began in
1890 took a full 40 years to complete but there have been additions made
since. For instance in 2002 a 30 metre bronze statue of Kuan Yin
(Goddess of Mercy), was completed.
But how to get up to it? No signs pointed the way although it was a
popular place for tourists and locals to visit. I did wonder if the the
narow tunnel or pasage through crowded stalls lead to it, but as it was
so unimposing I quickly rejected that as the way to go. Instead I headed
up the road which wound its way up the opposite side of the valley. I
assumed that there must be some way to get from the road to the temple.
It was a 20 minute climb during which I passed a smaller Buddhist temple
or centre and got views of the mountain stream cascading down in the
valley. I could see the road on the other side of the valley ahead of me
so I knew there was a point where I would cross the river and be just
below the temple.
And so it was that I eventually reached the temple car park. At the end
of my visit I mad some enquiries and found that yes, the narrow passage
between the trading stalls would have been the was the way I should have
come. Oh well, it had been a pleasant walk up the valley.
Well, the temple rally needs to be seen to be believed. In front of me
were wide stairs leading up to the first floor temple area. On the
ground floor were trading stalls of appropriate Buddhist items, a large
vegetarian resturant and a car park, plus the passageway leading down to
the town.
So ascending the stairs, I entred a large room perhaps the sive of of a
rugby field – remember that this is a big complex. There were rows of
seats set out which looked a bit like a church – except that they faced
several statues of Buddha and other identities. Dominant clolours were
gold red and black. Incense was burning at several locations. Each of
the chairs had a small shelf attached at the back upon which was placed
various books of Buddhist scriptures. A bit like pew Bibles and hymn
books in a church.
As I had noticed in other temples, individuals carried out their private
devotions while others walked around them and sometimes photographed
them. There were plenty of cameras out in action and it was interesting
to watch Asian camera enthusiasts taking pretty much the same sort of
photos as I was. I guess tourists react pretty much the same no matter
who they are.
But there was more to see. The next area was a Chinese garden courtyard
with fountains and various statures of Buddah. The largest was at one
end of the garden on a low mound with a pagoda style roof set over it.
All very peaceful. The pathway directed me along and through a door in a
wall. Now I had entred into another temple area. Along the wall, through
the circular gateway, were dozens of identical statues. They surrounded
a building in which the ground floor was a tourist suvineer shop and the
upper floor housed a number of statues, many of Buddha. This area
afforded some good views down into the town below.
The complex was full of a variety of Buddha statues as well as
Bodhisattvas and also numerous Chinese gods. Lanterns hung everywhere.
Time was running out, so I had to keep moving along. Next was a rather
dark temple area, again with statues in various places, each affording
an opportunity to worship and leave burning joss sticks.
Then the visitor flow went into a large souvineer shop where I was told
'All closed". I had been heading towards a elevator or esculator which
would take me up to higher levels of the complex. "Come back tomorrow"
the shop assistants told me, but while that would have been possible, I
had other things planned for that space in time.
A pity really, as I was heading to see Ban Po Thar or the Ten Thousand
Buddhas Pagoda. I had been able to see it in the distance and it did
look imposing. It is a seven story pagoda which combines elemnets of
Chinese, Thai and Burmese architecture. It is considered to be quite
unique and special.
Although I left before it was dark, I have since read that at night the
temple complex is brightly lit with neon lighting and spotlighting. This
apparently gives it a 'Las Vagas' appearance.
So I made my way back down the tunnel formed by the meeting rooflines of
the side by side stalls. There was a turtle pool along the way but that
was now closed although I could look through the grill and see the
turtles. Most of the stalls were closing, after all the flow of visitors
had largely finished. There was the usually merchandise; tee shirts and
tee shirts, temple souvineers and leatherwork. But mostly it was tee
shirts. All more or less the same, so I expect the price would have been
as well.
Back down to ground level it was the challenge to work out where to
catch the bus. I wandered around where I had been let off but there was
no obvious bus stop. In the distance, perhaps eoo metres away I could
see the town's main street and an occasional bus going along. OK, I
thought that it would be best to go down there.
Passing the market stalls selling fruit and vegetables, I noticed across
the road several young Europeans chatting to a stall holder. So I
wandered across to see if they knew where to catch the bus. They didn't,
but the stall holder was cutting up samples of local fruit and passing
it around the group. She had split open a Jack Fruit and invited me to
try it. So I scooped out a segmernt around a large black seed. It tasted
very sweet juicy and nice. We all were happy to have another segment.
On the main street I asked several people for the bus stop and got a
variety of suggestions but eventually I ended up back at a point I had
passed and on the opposite side of the road to wait. When the correct
bus did come along I was interested to find that it drove right past the
spot I had alighted earlier and where I had first started looking for a
bus stop to go home. In fact the bus followed along from Georgetown.
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