For the last of my recaps of my trip to Penang in October, I am going to take you along with me on visiting Kek Lok Si. Besides checking out a Peranakan Mansion (such as staying at the Blue Mansion or visiting Pinang Peranankan Mansion musuem) and checking out the George Town street art and Penang’s wide variety of food, I would recommend visiting Kek Lok Si Pagoda as one of the best things you can do while in Penang. What makes it unique is that among its millions of Buddhas it shows the blending of cultures that is so representative of Malaysia by including many stylistic representations of Buddha.
Kek Lok Si is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia, and located on Penang Island about a 30 minute by car from George Town, to the west of the city in the hills. If you visit Komtar, Penang’s tallest building, for a view, you will definitely see it from the viewing deck. In the town Air Itam at the foot of the hills you’ll find lots of great street food and restaurants, so you can easily and happily make this a half day trip. Kek Lok Si itself is probably worth maybe 2 hours of visiting. Since you are already on this side, you may consider combining this trip with visiting Penang Hill.
The main attraction here is the Kek Lok Si pagoda, located at the center and which you have to pay a small and at the centre of the complex. The first photo you see below is not it – that’s just at the entrance. The second photo, with me in it – that’s the Kek Lok Si pagoda behind me with the gold Burmese crown at the top! The Buddha you see in the background of the photo in the left is housed with a green roof that you see directly behind me in the right photo.
Before you get to the pagoda, you will first pass through a couple garden courtyards and temple buildings – this part is free. You will not need to pay an entrance fee except to get to the area with the pagoda, and to take the tram to the Kuan Yin statue. This initial area on the way up has some very colorful and detailed wall carvings as part of a circular doorway, and the courtyard itself is lined with identical Buddha statues that make for interesting framing photo ops.
