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Address: Burma Lane, Pulau Tikus 10250, Penang.

The temple was built in 1845 at Burma Lane on a piece of land given by Queen Victoria to four women trustees as a gesture of goodwill to boost trading relations with Thailand. The first monk was a Theravada Buddhist monk from Thailand, Phorthan Kuat, also known as the “Powerful Monk”. Legend has it that he was very fond of laksa, a local specialty and even today devotees bring a bowl of laksa as an offering to his shrine.

A very colorful Buddhist Temple of Thai architecture and a reminiscent of the many Siamese wats seen in Bangkok. It houses a huge reclining Buddha statue laid with pure gold leaves and is considered to be the third largest in the world in early days, measuring 33 meters. Behind the statue are niches where urns containing the ashes of devotees are placed.

There are also a few colorful statues of mythical creatures, including two seven-headed serpents and two beautiful dragons that “guarded” the two side entrances. Inside the main shrine where the majestic reclined Buddha statue reclined is located, about 30,000 embossed smaller Buddha images, painted in gold, adorn the walls.

Besides the main shrine, there are smaller shrines of different Buddhas and popular Thai deities. Inside a much smaller hut-like shrine is the famous Pra Phrom Buddha (Four faced Buddha) where devotees pray at the different faces for different wishes, namely Na metta (peace), Mo ka ru na (wealth), Mu ti tah (relationship) and O bek ka (education).

When and How to get there?

Opening Hours: 10.00am – 6.00pm

Rapid Penang Route No: U101 / U102 / U103 / U104 / U105

Location map:

GPS Coordinates: 5.431671N, 100.313815E Show on map

Photo gallery:

Posted by admin on March 3, 2011 under Tourist Attraction.