The Snake Temple () (also called as the Temple of the Azure Cloud) is a

Chinese temple Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as: * '' miào'' () or ''di� ...

situated in

Bayan Lepas Bayan Lepas is a town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located within the Southwest Penang Island District, near the southeastern tip of Penang Island. Founded in the 19th century, Bayan Lepas has various industries. History Bayan Lep ...

Southwest Penang Island District The Southwest Penang Island District ( ms, Daerah Barat Daya Pulau Pinang) is a district within the Malaysian state of Penang. The district covers the southwestern half of Penang Island and borders the Northeast Penang Island District to the eas ...

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It was built in 1805 for Master Qingshui or Chor Soo Kong (祖師公), a

deified Apotheosis (, ), also called divinization or deification (), is the glorification of a subject to divine levels and, commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity. The term ha ...

Buddhist monk. Devotees from as far away as

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

come to pray in the temple on the monk's birthday (the sixth day of the first

lunar month In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month. Variations In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Europ ...

). The temple also featured during the 8th leg of ''

The Amazing Race 16 ''The Amazing Race 16'' is the sixteenth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on Sunday, February 14, 2010, and the ...

'' and become a location in

Tan Twan Eng use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinat ...

's novel "The Gift of Rain" (book 1, chapter 4).

History

The temple was constructed in the 1805 to honour Chor Soo Kong (also known as Master Qingshui), a Buddhist monk who lived during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(960–1279) for his numerous miracles and good deeds especially in healing the sick and giving shelter to snakes. When the temple structure was completed in the 1800s, snakes coming from the species of '' Wagler's pit viper'' reportedly appeared by themselves.

Features

The temple is filled with the smoke of burning

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...

and a variety of

pit viper The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . crotaline snakes (from grc, κρόταλον ''krotalon'' castanet), or pit adders, are a subfa ...

s. The

vipers The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipers), hinged fangs tha ...

are believed to be rendered harmless by the sacred smoke, but as a safety precaution, the snakes have been de-venomed but still have their

fangs A fang is a long, pointed tooth. In mammals, a fang is a modified maxillary tooth, used for biting and tearing flesh. In snakes, it is a specialized tooth that is associated with a venom gland (see snake venom). Spiders also have external fangs ...

intact. Other species of snake also available in the temple. Visitors are warned against picking up the

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

and placing them on their bodies to take pictures. Aside from the snakes, two brick wells known as the "Dragon Eye Wells/Dragon Pure Water Wells" are located inside the temple together with two giant brass bells. In 2005, a snake breeding centre was set up in the temple. File:Penang 071.jpg, Signboard of the temple inside its compound. File:Snake Dance.jpg, Snake dance in the temple compound during night. File:Penang 070.jpg, The temple outside area. File:Penang 067.jpg, Viper snakes inside the temple.

References

External links

* {{Malaysian historical architectures and sites Chinese-Malaysian culture Buddhist temples in Malaysia Taoist temples in Malaysia Religious buildings and structures in Penang Religious buildings and structures completed in 1805 19th-century Buddhist temples