4 November 2015

Perak Tong

I have written a lot of posts about the various temples we have visited here in Ipoh from Sam PohTong with its hidden pond, Ling Sen Tong with its colourful sculptures or the unexpected, Enchanted Heart Tibetan tradition temple.
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Temple hidden in the trees
Perhaps the most well known of all the Ipoh Temples is, however, the Perak Cave Temple (Perak Tong).  Ipoh is surrounded by limestone hills which make spectacular locations for the cave temples.  Most of these hills are in small ranges but the one in which Perak Tong is built is rather isolated and seems to stand on its own in the middle of an industrial area full of warehouses and second hand car lots.
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Temple entrance
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
A goddess of fortune...and me!
I first saw this temple when I got lost in the early days of living in Ipoh and saw the ponds out of the corner of my eye.  I resolved to go back one day.  It is a comparatively recent temple, built by a Chinese immigrant family in the 1920s and still managed by their descendants today. 
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Entering the cavern
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Buddha
The eyecatching ponds, guarded by a goddess and situated between the temple and the road are rather a disappointment close to.  They are very dirty and devoid of life except hungry mosquitoes.  If they were a disappointment, however, the temple was most certainly not.  From the outside it looks rather ordinary.  The inside, however, is anything but.

Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Devotional Bells
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Dragon
We expected to see a cavern but the interior is a cathedral, it was huge.  In the outer chamber there was a large statue of a seated Buddha flanked by guards on either side wall.  There was  a main altar for prayer offerings and a gigantic bell to ring to draw the attention to your devotions.  The walls of the temple are covered with drawings, some naïve some spectacular works of calligraphy.

Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat

Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat


Going through to the rear portion of the cave there are a number of smaller ‘side chapels’ each with their own altar and again covered in calligraphy.  At the very back you come to the stairs (all 450 of them) which lead from the base of the cave up to the buildings at the top of the hill.  The steps are steep and rather narrow in some places and although there are plenty of places to rest, the heat the climb can be quite enervating. 

Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Statue in a side chapel
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Tiny tiger
Perak Tong Ersatz Expat
Steps to the cave top
After a while, however, you climb out of the rock and into the gardens on the hill.  These are a haven for wildlife and, in the absence of haze, would be a lovely place to sit and enjoy a drink (looking in at the gardens and not out at the sea of warehouses at the base of the hill!).  As it was the haze meant that we could not stay for long without problems so we, reluctantly, started the climb back down to enjoy another wander through the temple and some fruit from the small café.


Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Paths over the hill
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
Plenty of places to rest
Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
A sadly uninspiring view marred by haze
Although not the best of the Ipoh temples the Perak Tong is probably the most well-known.  As a result it does seem to get more visitors than the others, it is also easy to find as from the Ipoh Bypass you simply take road no 1 to Sungai Siput.  I took my father on a visit the day before he flew home.  The children were in school, the baby asleep at home (with a babysitter) and it seemed the ideal way to finish off a trip to Ipoh.  It is certainly a good place to while away a few hours and one to which we will return to show Mr EE and the children.  

Perak Tong - Ersatz Expat
The ubiquitous temple dog

Posted as part of the new Travel at Home monthly linky.

Ersatz Expat

Click the picture for more information on life in Ipoh.

Ersatz Expat

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful. I especially like the wall paintings, oh and the temple dog of course! I see he has a chain - does that mean he is actually owned by some-one, rather than being feral? #TravelAtHome

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    1. I think he does live there - most temples seem to have a few resident canines. They are very easy going and just lie there as visitors walk past them.

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  2. Oooh a rare photo of you, even if it is from behind!!! Love the drawings, and HATE the haze that you're suffering from Indonesia. And while we're on the subject, why does the world not give a damn that Indonesia is burning? It's such a shocking situation.

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    1. like the heroine of Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone I am best viewed from behind! The haze is, thank goodness, starting to ease off as we enter Monsoon season.

      The whole situation is very complex and there seems to be no will to resolve it at all. Our posting here is temporary but people live through it year after year and of course it is worse on Sumatra and in Kalimantan. The areas are being denuded and devastated and the long term impacts just do not bear thinking about.

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  3. What a magical, mystical, beautiful site.
    Utterly captivating.
    Thank you for sharing these fabulous photos Mrs. EE
    xxx

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    1. Thanks Wendy - I love the temples here, such fabulous places to walk around and explore.

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