Thean Kong Thnuah Temple or Jade Emperor God Temple (also known as Thni Kong Tnua, zh, t=天公壇) is a
Chinese temple located at the foot of
Penang Hill in
Air Itam,
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 ...
. Completed in 1869, it is the only temple in
Malaysia built specifically for the worship of the
Jade Emperor
The Jade Emperor or Yudi ( or , ') in Chinese culture, traditional religions and myth is one of the representations of the first god ( '). In Daoist theology he is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones, the three ...
(
Hokkien: ''Thinn-kong'') and becomes a focal point for the annual Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations on the 9th day of
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
.
The temple was featured in Episode 8 of ''
The Amazing Race 16''.
History
The temple was built in the 1860s by members of the
ethnic Chinese Hokkien community in
Malaysia and underwent a restoration beginning in 2002.
Features
The temple is located at the foot of
Penang Hill and is surrounded by lush greenery. The path leading up to the temple features a flight of stairs with 110 granite steps and its
archway is decorated with century-old stone carvings. The temple's architecture is a combination of both
Buddhist and
Taoist styles.
In the first shrine hall, there are three gold-plated
Buddha statues while the Jade Emperor God sits in the main shrine hall.
References
Chinese-Malaysian culture
Buddhist temples in Malaysia
Taoist temples in Malaysia
Religious buildings and structures in Penang
Tourist attractions in George Town, Penang
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1869
19th-century Buddhist temples
19th-century Taoist temples
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