Georgetown, Penang

 David and I took separate tours today because I wanted to go to the batik factory that was part of mine.  His tour consisted of driving around town without any real stops, which means he was limited to photos taken through a moving bus window.  

  

George Town is the capital of the Malaysian island of Penang, formerly called Prince of Wales Island.  The population is about 1.7 million. The island is connected to the mainland by two bridges, one is about 13 km long and the other is 24 km long.  Founded in 1786 as a British East India Company trading post, it was named after King George III.

My excursion was called "Temples and Traditional Crafts" and included visits to three buddhist temples.  Unlike many other passengers who by now are complaining about being "templed out", I am always so curious not only about the architecture, but about the symbols present in religious monuments.  I am still very unlearned about the principles and practices of eastern religions, but with each visit to a temple, one or two more icons become familiar and nameable.  Although we were in muslim Malaysia, we visited two buddhist temples which were across the street from one another--one was Thai and the other a Burmese temple.  My guess is that this is the ordination hall of the Thai temple.  It's here to  provide architectural comparison to the Burmese temple a few photos below.  

The interior of the temple contained this large reclining Buddha.  

 The wall behind the buddha was filled with urns containing ashes of deceased worshipers.




















Each one had a picture and the demographic information.  Our guide told us that the cost of the cubicle was directly proportional to its position.  The higher in the wall, the closer to heaven, so more expensive.  In the base of the Buddha were about four rows of cubicles.  The ones closer to the top, thus more likely to be caught up by the Buddha on the way to heaven, the more expensive.  While we were in the temple, I saw a couple who had brought a hamper of specially prepared food to leave as an offering for their deceased person.



In front of the Buddha were three statues of deceased monks who had lived and taught at the temple.  This one depicts a monk who was felt to have had special healing powers.  Worshippers who have an illness of some sort bring squares of gold leaf and place them on the statue's body in the area where the supplicant has the illness.  The statue was covered with several layers of gold leaf.






We were required to remove our shoes to enter the temple.  I wanted to take a photo of the lotus design in the floor and saw my tourist-tan feet and decided to include them.  Even though much of our excursions are spent on the bus, even the little bit of walking I have done within 10 degrees of the equator has given my feet a tan specific to my Naot Mary Janes.

Here are the entry gates for these two temples which face each other.  The Thai one is on the left, the Burmese one on the right. 

Again, for comparison with the photo toward the top.  I really wish I could spend a few hours with a local and have them explain all the details of the decorations.

This was behind the main shrine which contained a standing Buddha.  I thought is was significant that the globe was positioned so Burma (now called Myanmar) was front and center.  

After a little driving around the perimeter of the island, we stopped at a batik factory where we were shown the process of creating the designs on fabric using the "wax resist" method.  The factory was along the same lines as the one in Bali that I saw, but it was still lovely to see the skill with which they use the many stamps dipped in wax to apply the design.

Another method is to draw the design with the wax tool.  His drawing seemed effortless and created such beautiful pictures.









After the design is drawn with wax, the different colors of paint are added.


After the process demonstration, we were invited into the outlet shop where the option glut was overwhelming.  It's a little frustrating to have a limited time to browse among so many beautiful items.  I managed to find a table runner and a blouse to buy.





Continuing on our drive around the island,  we stopped at this roadside fruit and spice stand.  It was a little scary to stand halfway out in the road to see his wares.  The little bananas are called "finger" bananas and are sweeter than our Cavendish ones in the states.

We were shown the nutmeg fruit (upper left photo) with the red strands of mace which surround the shell inside which is the nut.  The lower left photo shows a cacao pod.  The brown seeds inside the white segments are processed into the food of the gods--chocolate.  The prickly fruit on the right is known as the King of Fruits--the durian.  It is the size of a football and described as "smelling like hell and tasting like heaven".  Most hotels prohibit anyone from bringing a durian inside because of the terrible smell.  I had tried a durian flavored popsicle and a piece of candy and could only describe the taste as "complex".  I wasn't brave enough to taste the creamy pod that is found inside the spiky outside of the actual fruit.

Our last stop was to the Snake Temple in the southwest corner of the island of Penang.  Our guide told us that as the temple was being built, snakes roamed freely both in and out of the temple.  Legend says that they were a source of healing to those who worshipped there. 

 The few pit vipers still in residence are said to be kept docile by the incense which is constantly being burned, but warnings are still in plain view.  This temple is definitely one for the books!