The bright lights of Kek Lok Si

Early February has been a very special time for the Chinese in Malaysia. Chinese New Year has been celebrated over the last 2 weeks, with yards of red fabrics, hanging lanterns and good luck charms decorating homes, businesses, streets and public buildings. People have given gifts, shared special meals and spent time with family. In Penang, Chinese New Year is also celebrated by the lighting of the Kek Lok Si Temple, which is the biggest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. 

Every nook and cranny of the temple is lit up for 30 days. You can imagine how hundreds of thousands of lanterns, candles and strings of colored LEDs make the place visible for miles. (They also make the place about 5 degrees hotter.) We can see its 7-story pagoda and 30-meter tall statue of Buddha from our place, as they glow brightly on the hill.

We visited Kek Lok Si one hot and muggy night during the second week of the celebration, working off our dinners as we walked up the steep hill up from the parking area. The temple was packed with people making offerings, praying and taking in the wonder of so many lights. It was touching to see little kids being taught how to pray and families getting their pictures taken by the huge Buddha.




























Oh, and I’m still looking for a stone lion to call my own.