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Wat Buppharam Thai (Siamese)
Buddhist Temple locates slightly away from the more popular Wat Chaiyamangalaram and Dhammikarama Burmese Temple but it is still considered
to be located at Pulau Tikus area (Address:- No. 8. Jalan Perak, George Town, Penang
Island, Malaysia. This relatively small but old Thai Buddhist temple complex
was built in 1942 by a Thai Buddhist monk named Phothan Srikheaw, who
was regarded as the first Chief Abbot of this temple. The founding father of the
temple is honored by a gold leaf covered image, together with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th
Chief Abbot of this temple, located at the front portion, near to the main building
of this temple.
<<<
--Shown
(103k Jpeg) is a very high
quality Close-Eyed Buddha amulet image form (More popularly known as Pidta (Pitta)
produced by Wat Buppharam for fund raising purpose on current temple extension. This
is a rare treat for Malaysian or visitors as very few local Thai Buddhist temples
produce amulets for worshippers. I was told by Stan that only 3,000 units were being
produced and was blessed by a long list of Chief Abbots of various famous Thai temples
back in Thailand
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The temple grounds are decorated with various mythical religious creatures, such
as the traditional Thai Nagas, and deities that popular Thai religion "borrowed"
from other cultures, a mixture of Hinduism and Taoism. The statue of Ganesha, the
elephant headed Hindu deity is placed at the main entrance. On the left, there is
a beautiful shrine consecrated to the goddess Kuan Yin, a Mahayana Bodhisattva, and
on the far side leading to the burial grounds, there is a small shrine to the Land
God, a Taoist deity. In spite of its modest size, Wat Buppharam has arguably one
of the largest temple arches in Penang.
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There are some really nice antique
Straight Chinese altar tables in the main shrines, and many golden painted statues.
This temple is open to the public and admission is free. The present Chief Abbot
of this temple is Phra Khantikpalo (Than Yong). who is
the fifth Chief Abbot after the passing away of the late Phra Khru Bidhikacheay
Akhathammo.
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Wat Buppharam is sometimes referred as The Temple of the Lifting Buddha.
The name was deprived from a mini Buddha statue which was placed at one of the room
to let visitors/worshippers seeking for spiritual guidance for personal and/or business
matters. The Lifting Buddha is one of the main tourist attraction of this relatively
old Buppharam Thai Buddhist Temple and hopefully, the creation of this site will
help to provide an addition of another interesting local tourist location in Penang.
- Stan Thong - Maintainer of the Wat Buppharam
Official Site
Site Development
Assisted by: Stan SL Thong <StanSLThong@yahoo.com>;
Tony EH Kang <tony_itf@yahoo.com>; Raymond Goh (rockraymond168@yahoo.com)
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