Kek Lok Si Temple, the one of the finest and largest Buddhist temples in Malaysia and South-east Asia, stands majestically on top of a hill in Air Itam. Kek Lok Si Temple was founded by the chief monk of the Goddess of Mercy Temple of Pitt Street back in the 1890s. This temple built in tiers culminates the beautifully crafted ”Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas”. Kek Lok Si Temple received the sanction of the Manchu Emperor Kuang Hsi, who bestowed a tablet and gift of 70,000 volumes of the Imperial Edition of the Buddhist Sutras. Together, with the funding by Penang Straits Chinese, Kek Lok Si Temple’s completion took more than 20 years to build, which features gardens, a turtle pond, shrines and beautiful sculptures. This temple combines the Chinese octagonal base with a middle tier of Thai design, and a Burmese crown, reflecting the temple’s embrace of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.
As the temple is located on top of a hill, reaching the temple requires you to climb a series of steps. Visitors can find many shops selling an array of stuffs from clothes, souvenirs, food to toys leading up to the temple which offers good buys. And as for food lovers, famous hawker food is lined up near the Air Itam market. After passing the turtle pond, you will reach Ban Po Thar, a seven-tier high tower. An admission fee of RM2 is charged before you can move further into the Temple complex. Above the temple is the large figure of Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy. Visitors who reach the top of the hill can overlook the town of Ayer Itam.
Kek Lok Si Temple operates daily from early morning to late evening. Visitors can take a Transit Link bus No 1, or No 101 from Georgetown, or Lim Seng bus No 91, or minibus No 21 from Lebuh Chulia to the Air Itam Terminal.
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