Kek Lok Si

The site

Work began in 1890 under the abbot Beow Lean on a hill called Crane Mountain

The complex was inspired by Beow Lean, the chief Chan Buddhist monk of the Goddess of Mercy Temple at Pitt Street. He chose a spiritual site in the hills of Ayer Itam, facing the sea, named Crane Mountain. Construction began in 1890.

The funders

Five Hakka tycoons paid for the buildings, among them Cheong Fatt Tze

The buildings were sponsored by five leading Chinese business people of Penang known as the Hakka tycoons: Cheong Fatt Tze, Chang Yu Nan, Cheah Choon Seng, Tye Kee Yoon and Chung Keng Kooi. Funds were also raised by dedicating structures in the names of benefactors.

The emperor

The Guangxu Emperor invited the abbot to Beijing in 1904

After the Chinese consul reported the temple's grandeur to the Qing court, the Guangxu Emperor invited Beow Lean to Beijing in 1904 and gave him scriptures. On his return a procession carried the edict in a rattan chair and the scriptures in pony-driven carts.

The pagoda

The pagoda combines Chinese, Thai and Burmese styles and was finished in 1930

The seven-storey Pagoda of the Ten Thousand Buddhas was completed in 1930. It joins a Chinese octagonal base, a middle tier of Thai design and a Burmese crown. It was commissioned by the Thai king Rama VI.

10,000alabaster and bronze statues of Buddha in the pagoda

Guanyin

A bronze Guanyin was completed in 2002 and its height was limited by a shadow

A bronze statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, was completed in 2002. It replaced a white plaster statue damaged by a fire. Its height was restricted to avoid its shadow falling on the Penang State Mosque. A three-tiered roof pavilion followed in 2009.