The Penang Snake Temple

[dirtydog]

I suppose the history of the place should be told first.

Some monk in the early 1800s travelled from China to Penang, he had some statue with him called, "Chor Soo Kong".

The monk told the gullible that if they prayed to it it would cure their ills, some British guy called David Brown fell for his banter and believed this diety cured him, he then donated the land to the monk to build his temple on, 1873 they started building the place, now remember this was all basically jungle then back in those days so had millions of poxy snakes in the area.

Legend has it that after the temple was built, snakes from the surrounding jungle mysteriously appeared in the building. Sensing this phenomenon as a good omen, the monk immediately gave shelter to the snakes and allowed them to take up residence in the sacred halls. They were even allowed to breed.

Well everybody I know who gets a snake in their house usually batters the things to death.

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I was quite suprised by this dog living at the temple, would have thought the snakes would have got him by now as he looks a few years old, but alas these days the snakes are defanged.






If I remember rightly you burn one of these big beasty joss sticks in remberance of the dead.




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From the Tourism Board.

The origins of snake temples and snake worship go back thousands of years. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, the snake represented many things to different religions – he was Apollo (the moon god) to the Grecians or Ra (the sun god) to the Egyptians.

The snake has also been variously described as a phallic deity, as a solar deity and as a god of death. The ancient Toltec and Aztec peoples worshipped a colourful feathered serpent called Quetzalcoatl, a half-divine, half-human being who was the great teacher of mankind.

In the field of medicine, the staff of Aesculapius with a coiled serpent became the traditional symbol of medicine and healing. It is told in Genesis that Moses held up a bronze serpent on a staff to cure the Jews of snakebite.

Closer to home, the Hindus, Burmese and Siamese people worshiped the snake as a demon who also had good aspects. The present-day worship of Krishna and Vishnu includes elements borrowed from primitive Hindu snake cults. The shedding of the snake's skin is interpreted by Buddhists as a form of regenerative power.

In China the serpent assumes the form of a dragon, a mythical being which is both fierce yet protective. In Penang, the so-called snake temple was actually built to honour a human deity – the snakes appeared soon after completion of the building.
Snake temple in honour of a famous healer

The fame of Penang's snake temple goes back a long way. Two postcards which are believed to date back to the 40s show the temple's altar replete with coiled snakes.

During its heyday, the temple reputedly drew hundreds of local and foreign visitors daily.

The scene inside the temple and outside was one of festivity, what with the many stalls selling souvenirs and other items, and the temple hall jam packed with devotees and visitors.

Even today, thousands of devotees make a trip to this "Temple of the Azure Cloud" or "Pure Cloud Temple" (as it is called) during the birthday celebrations of the resident deity, Chor Soo Kong which occurs thrice yearly, on the 6th days of the first, sixth and eleventh months of the lunar calendar respectively.

Local devotees as well as those from as far away as Europe and neighbouring countries in Asia bring offerings of candles, incense and eggs (for the snakes).

Holding aloft sticks of burning incense like bouquets of flowers, devotees turn their gaze heavenward and utter silent yet fervent prayers and making personal wishes. If faith can move mountains, then the large turnout during the deity's anniversary must surely be testament to his powers in working miracles.
Begining

A monk journeying to Penang from China in the 1800s had in his possession the statue of a famous deity called Cheng-Swee Chor-Soo or Chor Soo Kong, whose name means "an eminent historic figure who is continuously revered by a community generation after generation".

The monk also brought with him myths and legends of this particular deity's power in healing sickness and granting favours to believers. Thus when British resident David Brown (owner of Glugor Estate) heard of this deity and was subsequently cured of an illness in 1873 after praying to him, he donated a tract of land so a temple may be built in homage of the deity who healed him. It is on this land which the Snake Temple has stood for over a century.

The architecture of the temple is a design commonly found in Southern China. Three dimensional sculptures constructed using a technique knows as Chien Nien (cut and paste) from shards of coloured porcelain decorate the roof.

Legend has it that after the temple was built, snakes from the surrounding forest mysteriously appeared in the building. Sensing this phenomenon as a good omen, the monk immediately gave shelter to the snakes and allowed them to take up residence in the sacred halls. They were even allowed to breed.

A 600 pound bell made in China during the Manchurian Dynasty (1886) still hangs in the main hall.

It is rung on the 1st and 15th days of every month of the Chinese calendar to invite the denizens of heaven and hell to pray.
The temple now

Up till today snakes are still found in the temple, although in slightly lesser numbers than before. This is not due to bad omens, but to rapid development around the area which disturbed the natural habitat of the snakes.

To help overcome this decline in viper population, devotees donate snakes to the temple on Chor's feast days.

Pit vipers are the only species found. Although vipers are venomous and aggressive, those in the temple appear docile. Devotees say the thick clouds of incense smoke act as a tranquilliser. This is apparently true as the snakes appear to be motionless, even asleep. Be that as it may, one should still handle the snakes (if one wants to!) gently and with care.

Interestingly, a photographer who specialises in snapshots of visitors posing with snakes was spotted milking venom from reluctant vipers one morning! His fees are RM30 for two 5R snaps which can be ready in a few minutes. A collage of some of his photographs is displayed.

A corridor beside the temple houses several cages with fully grown vipers. Just next to these cages is a small altar bearing the Deity of Prosperity & Moral.

Some time back, the temple was expanded by the addition of another hall at the back of the original temple. This new wing was built in honour of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy.

The administration and upkeep of the temple is taken care of by the Hokkien Kongsi, a body which comprises four trustees from each of the five clan houses in Penang, namely Cheah, Khoo, Lim, Tan and Yeoh. The Hokkien Kongsi have been appointed as caretakers of five temples in Penang, including of course, the snake temple.

Chanting of the sutras begin at 5am daily, and the temple doors open to visitors at 6am. Usual closing time is 7pm. Admission to the temple is free. Depending on traffic situations, a bus ride from Komtar to the snake temple should take about 30 minutes.

[dirtydog]

Here we have the traditional guards at the entrance to the temple.










For those of you interested in visiting this place it is probably worth going just before you goto catch your plane as it is just about 3km from the airport in the town of Bayan Lepas, from Komtar it is a 20 ringit cab fare, when you are finished there, which wont be long believe me you can then get the bus to the airport for 1 ringit.

[dirtydog]

I have to admit I did like this warning sign.





Bloody inconsiderate snake mediums

Last time I was here at the snake temple was about 14 years ago, at that time the snakes were poisonous and there were bloody hundreds of them all over the place, even laying in the middle of passage ways, now I reckon they have about 30 of them and the staff keep an eye on them to make sure they stay draped over things away from people walking, I assume a few got squashed, I also noticed last time that behind every object on the floor were eggs, this was to keep them full up so they were not aggressive, this time I looked for eggs, they were all in cartons under a draped table, I assume now the vipers are caged at night.

[dirtydog]

Time to introduce the snakes, here are the 2 main piles of snakes, here there are a couple of guys that hassle and hassle you to let them take your picture with a snake draped over your head, I think it costs about 5 ringit if your interested in haveing a picture of yourself with a defanged egg eating snake.

[dirtydog]

Here we are in the main temple area, it aint very big but has a few inanimate objects you can pray at if that is the way you are inclined.













Here is a short video of the main tourist room, aint a very impressive place is.

The temple is free to enter but you can donate if you so wish.

[dirtydog]

This bell was made in 1886 in China, it weighs in at 600 pounds, must have took a few of them to bring this to Penang.


Here are couple of pictures of the inside of the doors, nice hand painting.

[dirtydog]

Above another nice praying area.


Below a snake chucked up onto a picture frame to look pretty.





Don't you just love these signs

[dirtydog]

A relatively new addition to the snake temple is the snake farm, this I assume they had to build due to the lack of interest in donating to the temple due to it being so disappointing, the snake farm they charge you 5 ringit to go inside, it's out at the back of the temple, they do feeding shows and all that but how often do bloody snakes feed.

[dirtydog]

One of the most exciting things I saw on my visit there was this tortoise walking, yep this place got the old adrenalin running.

[dirtydog]

I should add that they had several tortoises loose so you had to be a bit wary.

The snakes ( I assumed were all in fish tanks, there were many signs about not tapping on the glass, but how the hell are you supposed to wake them up if you don't?

[dirtydog]

Halfway round the courtyard I saw an open wire cage, I did wonder to myself whether the staff for a bit of amusement had opened this cage to let some beasty snake out as I didn't notice it open when I first got to the place, I should mention this place aint busy, there was me in the courtyard display area, and some ticket sales woman in her ticket booth, I slowly wandered up to the open cage and found this beasty in it, god knows how poisonous this may have been but I got the pic

[dirtydog]

Generally if a snake has stripes on it it means it is poisonous so it is a good idea to kill it before it bites you, so if you see this bugger in your place don't feel guilty about battering it to death with a great big lump of wood.

[dirtydog]

This one looks pretty harmless, but hell why take the chance, kill these ones aswell if they enter your house.

[dirtydog]

These ones are ok, well as long as it aint the 23 foot long one they had on their advertising, his cage was open aswell, but he was sleeping.

[dirtydog]

What to do if you get bitten by one of these beasties.

[corvettelover]

nice post DD good pics agree with you batter the bugger with whats ever nearest.Dont assume its not a killer as you were told that a snake of that colour is not one .

[bobbins]

We vistited it a couple of years ago. Most exciting thing was buying a barbie umberella outside.