Ipoh city is situated within the limestone and granite ranges, and countless of caverns are within these limestone hills. Today, most of the caverns have been converted into places of worship, such as Sam Poh Tong, Perak Tong, Kek Lok Tong and so forth, as well, these cave temples have become very popular among the local and foreign tourists.
The transformation of these plain caverns to be the distinctive cave temples, is simply explained through the development of tin mines industry in Ipoh. Because of the accidental discovery of tin ore by Long Jaafar and the later exploitation, thousands of migrant workers from southern China shifted in, especially during the tin craze era of the 1910s and 20s. As the tin mine workers moving in, they also brought along their religious practices and cultures. It’s believed that there were monks and Taoists among the migrant workers, and they discovered some of the caverns and made it into the religious sites.
Hence, on our second day in Ipoh, we definitely couldn’t miss out the well-known cave temples here.
Nam Tian Tong
Nam Tian Tong means ‘Cave of the Southern Sky’ in Chinese, and the Southern Sky is often referred as ‘heaven’ in Chinese mythology.
On the temple facade, we find ‘Ba Xian’ (Eight Immortals) illustrated beautifully, so obviously, it’s a Taoist temple, because ‘Ba Xian’ is from Taoist mythology and they are the most widely known immortals throughout Chinese culture. The eight individual immortals represent a full range of life experience as youth, old age, poverty, wealth, male, female, the common public and the nobility.
The temple is more than 120 years. However, it’s well kept by the temple management committee, and the present chief Taoist priest is its fourth generation. Besides, the management committee also keeps a very comprehensive historical journal of the temple, thus, most of the incidents can still be tracked accordingly.
This stairway of 138 steps inside the temple would lead visitors to the top of the mountain range. Unfortunately, we didn’t climb up. So we couldn’t share the picturesque view here.
Both Nam Tian Tong and Sam Poh Tong suffered a disastrous mudslide in 1973. Later, the public donated funds to rebuild these 2 cave temples, and the reconstruction of Sam Poh Tong even took 6 years to fully recover back to its current state.
Opening Hours: 9am – 7pm
Admission: Free
Contact No.: -
Directions to Nam Tian Tong
View Nam Tian Tong 南天洞 in a larger map
Sam Poh Tong
Sam Poh Tong is nearby Nam Tian Tong, and the entrance is on the same stretch of road as Nam Tian Tong’s, only further in.
The main difference between Sam Poh Tong and Nam Tian Tong is, Sam Poh Tong is a Buddhist temple. According to some informal journals, when the Taoist priests settled in Nam Tian Tong, other monks chose to settle in the neighboring cave, Sam Poh Tong.
There are 3 main attractions in Sam Poh Tong:-
1. A landscaped garden at the front of the temple.
It’s awarded ‘The Best Landscaped non-Muslim house of worship’ in 1993.
2. Pavilion of the Goddess of Mercy (Guan Yin).
It’s located in the open courtyard at the back of the cavern.
3. The tortoise pond.
It’s the home of hundreds of tortoises and terrapins. Visitors are allowed to feed the tortoises and they can buy ‘kangkung’ (a type of vegetable) at the entrance.
Additionally, the temple houses many bronze Buddha figurines, which are placed in the main chamber, it becomes a unique feature and also attracts devotees here to offer prayers.
Opening Hours: 9am – 6pm
Admission: Free
Contact No.: +605-312 0813
Directions to Sam Poh Tong
View Sam Poh Tong 三宝洞 in a larger map
Kek Lok Tong
Kek Lok Tong is the most recent cave temple, and built in the 1970s.
After visited most of the cave temples in Ipoh, Kek Lok Tong naturally becomes my favorite one. Reason is quite simple, because inside the cave, there are numerous unique shapes of stalactites and stalagmites, and the rock formations took thousands of years.
In addition, the cavern is depicted as a dragon carp. The entrance is facing the northern sky, and it’s similar to a widely open mouth of the carp, and the carp’s tail is the 2 flights of stairs right at the back of the cave which’s leading to the huge garden.
Opening Hours: 6:30am – 7pm
Admission: Free
Contact No.: +605-312 8112
Directions to Kek Lok Tong
View Kek Lok Tong 极乐洞 in a larger map
There are many great cave temples in Ipoh, however, not all is accessible for the disabled tourists. Only Kek Lok Tong has a wheelchair ramp next to the carp fish pond, and wheelchair users can at least get in to the main chamber. Therefore, Malaysia still has a long way to go on building a better infrastructure for both the able and disabled.
Ходячие приколы)))…
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Kek Lok Tong, I vote it as the best place to visit in Ipoh! Love the place so much!
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it