Malaysia 2022/23 - #21 - Wat? No There Is No Limit On Temple Visits!

Or old mansions either.

 On our last day of touring in Penang there were three top sites we had yet to check off our list. 

• The Blue Mansion - A former home of a mega Chinese Malay Tycoon 
• Wat Chayamangkalaram - A Buddhist Temple done in the Thai style 
• Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple - A rare example of the Burmese style of Buddhist Temple outside of Myanmar. 

The Blue Mansion  - The short story

Rags to Riches Chinese immigrant, Cheon Fatt Tze built a fabulous business empire. You can read his full story here. He is a remarkable person. He is called the Rockefeller of China. This is one of his many houses throughout SE Asia and Southern China. He built it for a beloved fourth wife. His will stipulated that the family could not sell the property until the youngest son of this wife died. It had fallen in to near ruin by the time that happened. It was subsequently purchased by a couple of architects who spent 6 years restoring it to its former glory and turning it into a hotel. (BTW Celebrity Historian, this would be a great story to add to your repertoire!)

Entrance to the Property

The nature of the property lent itself to numerous interesting photo ops.

Inside during the tour, the ops were less frequent.

Before we left the grounds, one more photo op

Dhammikarama Burmese Buddhist Temple

I was surprised. I was skeptical that the temple would be that much different from the Chinese Buddhist styles we had been seeing. But it was decidedly different.

The expressions on people's faces was a major difference with a focus on loving devotion 

There is much more emphasis on human relationships

Even the Demons are devoted

Dragons and other mythological figures are portrayed with a softer approach. And the dress, rituals and postures are different.

Modern Buddhism - Monk with Cell phone

Wat Chayamangkalaram 

Let's see the difference with the Thai style

"You see love. Don't listen to #3. You can NEVER get enough Temples!"

Dragons have a very distinctive look. Their mirror clad sides offered a ton of photographic possibilities.

I have seen the light oh dragon!

Other images of difference

The Reclining Buddha, a very different representation.

And some Very Different representations of devotees

SIGNS OF THE WORLD

A Burger and Soft Drink WILL NOT get you on the road to enlightenment.