Wat Phothivihan / Wat Jambu @ Tumpat

Today, let’s talk about the reclining Buddha in Kelantan- which , at one time, used to be largest  in South East Asia.

And I am proud to say that this 40 meter long and 11 meter high sculpture is in Tumpat, Kelantan, my loverrly hometown. We locals addressed this temple as Wat Jambu ( well, the temple is located in Kampung Jambu) rather than the official name of Wat Phothivihan.  So, if you ask for directions, please mention Wat Jambu. Kampong Jambu used to be known as Kampung Beruk ( beruk = monkey), I am not sure were the people in the village happy with the name change, would you prefer to be from a fruity village or a monkey village ? hehehe.

The sculpture was constructed in 1973 and completed in 1979. I remember that the sculpture wasn’t painted until sometime later, and it took a bit of getting used to, seeing a coloured version of the sculpture rather than have it in the colour of nude cement. ( although I have to say that I find the grey version to be more impressive) , and in the earlier days, the statue was in the open and not under a roof.

This gigantic Alms Bowl, located not too far from the entrance gate,  was also something relatively new to the temple

The Isolation Area-  the building exudes a certain kind of calmness

Close up of the statue in front of the Isolation Area ( Bot)

A statue of the ‘future’ Buddha – Maitreiya , in front of the reclining Buddha statue

Buddha statues in various poses. These statues are all housed under the same roof as the sculpture of the reclining Buddha

Extract from http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/dharmadata/fdd35.htm  :  It is often said that Buddhists worship statues, in the sense that they believe that Buddha statues actually are the Buddha or that they have some inherent power. But such ideas are quite incorrect. Buddhists do not ‘worship’ Buddha statues , the Buddha statue is seen as a symbol that can be seen as helpful in creating devotion, uplifting the mind and focusing attention.

Statue of the four faced Buddha

The turtle pond- I wonder are the 19 terrapins that used to be our pets still here..hellooooo ?

At the main hall

Tok Guru is held in greatest respect regardless of the community or religion

Interestingly, this area below was marked as ‘Tibet’ in the directory

This was also one of the newer addition to the temple. Frankly, not my favourite part of the temple..  a bit too garish for my taste

As usual, you will find religious books / booklets for free distribution on the shelves…

And this caught my attention..huh ? growth fund worr..a new religion ?

There is a makan shop in the vicinity of the temple ..you can get Thai style food ( the somtam is fiery mannnn) or soupy noodles etc etc , soft drinks and of course, coconuts..

Uncle tirelessly preparing the coconut for serving..

Please come visit Wat Phothivihan !! The temple is about 7km from either Tumpat town center or from Kota Baru.

There are other fabulous temples in Tumpat including Wat Pikulthong , Wat Mai Suwankiri and Wat Machimmaram . And the chinese Tien Hou Temple

Wat Phothiviharn
Chief Abbot: Ven. Phrakhru Prasart Prachakorn
Address: Kampung Jambu, 16200 Tumpat, Kelantan
Telephone: 09-7193019, 019-9586322

Bits and pieces @ Sibu , Sarawak

Had a short working trip to Sarawak, one of the stops was Sibu. In Sibu, I will usually stay at TanahMas Hotel, to me the best thing about the hotel is not it’s breakfast , but the proximity to the Sibu Sentral Market and the Tua Pek Kong temple. In half an hour I can walk leisurely  from the hotel to the Tua Pek Kong temple, have a sniff of the sea and incense and make my way back to the hotel in time for the next appointment.

That morning, I left the hotel at 7am, took a 3 minutes walk to the market –Pasar Sentral Sibu. I heard that you could start your marketing at 5 a.m ! ( or maybe even at 4 !) . The early bird catches the worm?  I suppose at 5 a.m, the worms will still  be in a daze and could be easily caught.

A very practical way to transport poultry .

They came in all shapes and sizes, each for RM10. They didn’t make any noise ( not when I was there anyway), it must be rather comfortable in that newspaper cocoon

The ducks were not spared too

Saw a stall with a big basin of…..turtles. I asked the owner what are these used for ( cringing inside that these creatures might end up in a soup bowl somewhere) , and she replied that the Chinese will buy these and then set them free at the temples. Phewww..when I asked to take a picture of her wares, without any hesitation she said yes and put her hand into the basin and ‘adjusted’ a few of the turtles so that they faced the camera, she even lifted the heads of a few of them to perk them up for the photo shoot.Each turtle will be sold for RM10 and quantity discounts can be negotiated lah.

Not sure what these were ? I asked the man what they were and being a forgetful slob, I forgot the name the uncle mentioned. Do you know what these are and what are they used for ? looked like an acorn ? ( not that I have seen an acorn and I think acorns are not so colourful lah)

Saw a stall that sells everything ! canned sardines to canned pork, mirrors to hair dye, brooms, mineral water, sauces , soap powder, tooth brush , you name it , the stall might have it ! anyway, I asked permission to take a picture of the stall  and the auntie can’t seemed to understand my mandarin, lucky for me she had a customer and the customer explained my request in the hockchew dialect . The auntie gave a shy laugh , walked briskly to the back of the stall and posed. ( and to think I only wanted a picture of the stall) . I took a few shots and show her the images , resulting in more laughter( auntie) and a few pats on the back (mine) .

The market is a two storey building, I am not sure how many stalls are there,  it’s huge..

There were also a large number of stalls selling dried seafood :  dried prawns ( small, medium, large, extra large…), salted fish, ikan bilis, dried sotong and other dried stuff from the sea. Nemo too ?

After the market, I continue with my walk to the Tua Pek Kong temple…one of Sibu’s landmark..

I have been to the temple a few times but never really noticed the raintreeInteresting history of this 100 year old tree …

Before heading back to the hotel, I stopped at one of the shops to get this bread/biscut- which is a Sibu specialty, it’s like hard bread , there were no filing. Texture was kinda coarse and hard ,  and it can be chewy , but it does have character and make an interesting munch especially when you bite into the fragrant sesame seeds.

Another Sibu landmark, the shiny dolphins riding on waves ( do they have dolphins in Sibu ? I need to check that out !)

I  likeyy Sibu !

Tua Pek Kong temple大伯公 @ Sibu, Sarawak

I had 1 hour to kill before dinner , and decide to take a quick walk down the road, passing the huge Sibu market , medicine halls , kopitiam, groceries, mini market etc etc –  my destination ?  the Tua Pek Kong Temple.

The temple with it’s 7 storey pagoda is one of Sibu’s landmark.

 

The two intimidating looking  door guardians

  

 The elaborate altar inside the temple

 

I do not know who Tua Pek Kong ( TPK)  is or  the history /story behind the TPK , decide to do a web search.From
http://www.huayan.net.my/news.php?id=49&sid=62d8e95c0a8b82e20a883ea0eb2d6059
 , i learn a bit about the TPK, following is my humble attempt at telling the story :

Long long time ago, three friends from China went to sea to search for a better life and ended up in Penang , they were said to have landed in Penang 40 years before Sir Francis Light.  Their names were Zhang Li (张理) , Chew Chow Siang (丘兆祥) and Ma Fook Chun (马福春), Zhang was the eldest and was probably  a teacher in China, the other two were ironsmith and coal something (煅炭 – I don’t know what this is, anyone can help ?) respectively , but as they landed on a forsaken island, naturally they became fishermen.

These three friends gathered occasionally and are as close as brothers. One day Chew and Ma  found that  they hadn’t seen Zhang for few days  and when searching for him. They later found his body by the stone cliffs, they gave Zhang a proper burial beside the cliff. Many years later, Chew and Ma died , by this time the population of the island had increased and Chew and Ma kampong folks, buried them beside Zhang. On this isolated  island, there were no religion or temples  to seek refuge from , out of respect the people started to pray to the three brothers and seek their protection.

 Close up of the statue of the Tua Pek Kong at the altar

 

An interesting looking incense holder

 

 Lanterns bearing names of devotees and what they wished for ( usually it’s  good health, prosperity and peace) – hanging at the entrance of the temple

 

The TPK temple faced the Rejang River, a picturesque walkway where anglers gather

i didn’t have much time to explore  further and unwillingly head back to the hotel ( for a quick bath before dinner)