Penang and Georgetown
Penang is an island not too far from the Malaysia/Thailand border; Georgetown was the Colonial capital of the region under the British. The airport is about an hour south of town and the drive in provides an interesting look into the sprawling metropolitan area. We only had two days in the region, which was not nearly enough time to do it justice, but only to get some superficial impressions. That said, what we did see was an impressive mix of cultures and traditions that supported the Malaysian melting pot impressions from Kuala Lumpur.
Simply walking down the street one comes upon Protestant and Catholic Churches, the sounds of muezzins calling to prayer from the minarets of a dozen mosques which are strewn between both Indian Hindu and Chinese Buddhist, and Taoist, temples. Little India breathes seamlessly with the Chinese sections of town, while the Christian churches appeared to be concentrated in the former British areas. The Chinese section was especially interesting as there were a number of recently very nicely renovated clan houses with their corresponding temples. In almost all of these there were very informative placards describing what the site looked like before the renovation, and what went into the reconstructions. Some also had descriptions of the meanings of the images in the paintings, reliefs and sculptures, which I found fascinating and very helpful. Most of the Chinese who came to this region did so at the end of the 19th C, and often from Southern China. They came primarily as merchants and traders, not as day laborers.
One of the places all the guidebooks say to visit is Penang Hill, and there is even a sign at the top of the hill that says if you haven’t been to the top, you haven’t been to Penang. While the view is spectacular on a clear day, I’m not at all sure that I would rave about this site. The view over the harbor and all of Georgetown, with the hills behind it is very nice, but there really isn’t much up there other than the view and we were there on a cloudy rainy day, so the weather probably colored my enthusiasm. Nonetheless, there were a few sites which caught my attention in addition to the fun roller coaster funicular ride up the steep slope. On top there is a small very simple mosque (which does allow women insideJ), a somewhat larger and more intricate Sri Aruloli Thirumurugan Temple (which was built by the Dutch East India Company for their predominantly Southern Indian rail workers), and a little garden arboretum next to a hotel and a couple of very expensive coffee houses. There is also an owl museum, which was closed when we were there. Of all these, the Hindu goddess temple is the most impressive. It has a number of devi images along with a small metal Shiva Nataraja, a couple of small images of Vishnu and a number of Ganeshas. Outside in the back of the temple overlooking the bay is a life-sized set of painted statues of Shiva and Parvati with both children, Nandi and a couple of peacocks. Ganesha sits next to Shiva who has his arm around his son and wife on the other side while Skanda sits on Parvati’s lap. Nandi is at Shiva’s foot while the peacocks frame the scene. It is really quite nicely constructed.
Not far from Penang Hill on a smaller mound is Kek Lok Si Guan Yin Temple, which is supposed to be the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia. The complex is fairly amazing and is definitely worth visiting. The Bodhisattva of Compassion’s statue towers 36. 5 m above the hill and the seven-storied temple below her. According to Lonely Planet the lower levels of the temple were said to be Chinese at the bottom, Thai in the middle and Burmese on top, but I was not able to discern these differences as the site is broken up into various sections, each with its own unique feel and style. There is a pagoda that one can climb up, a number of internal temples and then the large courtyard with the towering figure on top. Well, actually, there is yet another level, but that was closed to the public so I don’t know what was up there. The view of Georgetown from Kuan Yin’s courtyard is much closer than the one from Penang Hill. Throughout the temple complex there are retail opportunities and on one of the larger shops near the upper courtyard, there is another large bust of the female Bodhisattva as if she were protecting the store itself.
My favorite part of our time in Georgetown was simply walking around and stumbling across shrines, clan houses and temples. As the water is never far away and the boardwalk only goes for a very short distance, we went in and out of alleyways to see how the people live in the stilted houses by the bay. Some of these have been recently renovated and the streets were lined with red lanterns and little red lacquer shelves for shrines with white and blue (or white and red) porcelain containers of incense by each of the houses. At the end of a couple of these alleys, we saw what looked like a fairly large nice new temple around the corner. As the temple wasn’t marked on any of the maps I had, nor mentioned in any of the guidebooks, it became a quest to find it. After a number of false starts and dead ends, through glass factories, machine shops, hordes of roving dogs etc., we finally got there. I figured we were close when a couple of signs in Chinese script had a red arrow pointing down an otherwise unmarked alley. I have no idea what the name of this temple is as the only writing was in Chinese characters and no one at the site spoke any English or other Western tongue I can converse in, but it is a true gem of a site. Downstairs there are a series of Quan Yin posters lining the walls to the inner sanctuary with Buddhas and other teachers on the altar. The mantra from the Heart Sutra “Om Gate, Gate, Para Gate, Para Sam Gate, Bodhi Svaha” played softly over and over wafting over the wind to the waters surrounding the temple. Upstairs was even more impressive; there were a number of beautiful Quan Yin statues behind a glass-cased altar and “Om Mani Padme Hum” played from her site. The entire area exuded a sense of peace and serenity as it overlooked the buildings and boats in the surrounding bay.
Georgetown isn’t specifically known for sacred art, but it could and perhaps should be. The plethora of cultural traditions that remain intact and vibrant in this city is quite remarkable. If nothing else, Georgetown proves that religious harmony is not only possible, but it can be profitable.
