Ipoh Caves, Heritage And Cave Temple Tour

TEMPURUNG CAVE IT IS POPULAR AMONG SPELUNKERS, OR CAVING ENTHUSIASTS. MORE THAN 3 KM LONG, IT IS ONE OF THE LONGEST CAVES IN PENINSULA MALAYSIA. THE TUNNEL OF THE CAVE RUNS FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST COVERING A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 2 KM UNDER THE LIMESTONE HILLS KNOWN AS GUNUNG TEMPURUNG AND GUNUNG GAJAH. IT IS MADE UP OF 5 LARGE DOMES AND IS BELIEVED TO HAVE EXISTED SINCE 8,000 B.C., ABOUT 10,000 YEARS AGO.

EACH OF THESE DOMES HAS DIFFERENT CALCIUM FORMATIONS AND MARBLE THERE EXIST IN DIFFERING TEMPERATURES AND WATER LEVELS. THESE CAVES ARE FAMOUS FOR ITS BREATHTAKING GALLERY OF STALAGMITES, STALACTITES AND OTHER AMAZING ROCK FORMATIONS THAT ARE SUPER SPELEOLOGICAL WONDERS, FOUND ONLY IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD.

THE KEK LOK TONG CAVE TEMPLE IS A TOURIST ATTRACTION. THE CAVE TEMPLE SITS ON A 12 ACRE SITE AND WAS USED AS EARLY AS 1920 AS A PLACE OF WORSHIP. IN 1960, THE CAVE BECAME PART OF AN IRON MINING SITE, THIS TEMPLE IS SET IN A HUGE CAVE IN THE LIMESTONE OUTCROPS BEHIND GUNUNG RAPAT.

THE KEK LOK TONG COMPLEX COMPRISES A CENTRAL ALTAR FEATURING A NUMBER OF BUDDHIST FIGURES AS WELL AS VARIOUS DEITIES OF THE CHINESE PANTHEON. THE MOST UNIQUE ABOUT THE CAVES IS THERE ARE ANOTHER GREAT GARDEN VIEW ONCE YOU GET INSIDE THE CAVES. THE LIMESTONE HILL IS MADE UP OF LIGHT GREY TO WHITE CRYSTALLINE KINTA LIMESTONE INTER BEDDED WITH ABOUT 5 MM TO 1 CM THINK ARGILLACEOUS MATERIAL BANDS. PRIMARY IRON CAN STILL BE SEEN WITHIN THE LIMESTONE. THE AWARD WINNING LANDSCAPE GARDEN FEATURES A JOGGING PATH CIRCLING TWO LAKES AND ONE OF THE LONGEST REFLEXOLOGY FOOTPATHS IN IPOH.

TRAVELS ABLE TO SEE A GOLDEN SITTING BUDHHA STATUE 40 FEET STALL DOMINATES THE TEMPLE.THE WALL OF THE CAVERN ARE DECORATED WITH COLORFUL MURALS DEPICTING CHARACTER AND EVENTS FROM CHINE MYTHOLOGY.BEHIND THE STATUE A FLIGHT OF STEPS MORE THEN 450 STEPS MAKES WAY INTO FAR RECESSES OF THE CAVE OUT THROUGH OPENING ON THE SIDE OF HILL ON THE REACHING THE HIGHEST PAVILION VIEW OF THE NORTHERN SUBURBS OF IPOH.

THE SAM POH TONG TEMPLE IS A CHINESE TEMPLE BUILT WITHIN A LIMESTONE CAVE AND IS THE OLDEST AND THE MAIN CAVE TEMPLE IN IPOH, PERAK, MALAYSIA. THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT IN A RAW LIMESTONE CAVE IN THE MOUNTAINS LOCATED ABOUT 5 KM FROM THE CITY CENTRE AND FOLLOWS THE BUDDHIST BRANCH OF MAHĀYĀNA BUDDHISM.

PERAK KWAN YIN TONG (ALSO KNOWN AS TOKONG KWAN YIN TONG OR KWAN YIN TONG TEMPLE) IS A CAVE TEMPLE LOCATED AT THE FOOT OF GUNUNG RAPAT ON JALAN GOPENG, IPOH. THE CAVE AT KWAN YIN TONG EXTENDS FOR ABOUT 20 METRES UNDER THE CLIFF. THE FLOOR OF THE CAVE HAS BEEN PAVED OVER WITH MARBLE TILES AND THE LOWER SECTIONS OF THE WALLS HAVE BEEN SMOOTHED OFF AND WHITEWASHED. THE UPPER WALLS AND ROOF HAVE BEEN LEFT IN THEIR ORIGINAL NATURAL CAVE STATE.

THE TEMPLE IS BUDDHIST AND DEDICATED TO THE BODHISATTVA GUANYIN COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE GODDESS OF MERCY. NUMEROUS STATUES OF GUAN YIN, BOTH LARGE AND SMALL LINE THE WALLS OF THE CAVE TEMPLE, TOGETHER WITH COLOURFUL MURALS.

LING SEN TONG PROBABLY PICKS UP A LOT OF TOURIST VISITORS WHO ARE HEADING TO THOSE MORE FAMOUS CAVE TEMPLES. THIS TEMPLE IS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM ITS NEIGHBOURS. THE GARDEN IN FRONT IS DECORATED WITH COLOURFUL STATUES OF CHARACTERS FROM CHINESE MYTHOLOGY SUCH AS THE MONKEY KING FROM THE CLASSIC TALE JOURNEY TO THE WEST.

THE ALMOST CARTOON-LIKE CARICATURES OF DRAGONS, THE GODDESS KUAN YIN AND OTHER FIGURES GIVE THE TEMPLE A CHILDREN'S THEME PARK ATMOSPHERE AND I AM SURE THIS PLACE MUST BE A HIT WITH KIDS.

IPOH OLD TOWN WAS SUCH A QUIET TOWN THAT TRAVELLERS WOULD CALL IT A LAID-BACK TOWN WITH CAFES, TRADITIONAL COFFEES AND FOOD AND FLOURISHING STREET ARTS. NOT MUCH WAS HEARD OF THE THREE CONCUBINE LANES. IN JULY 2016, LONELY PLANET LISTED IPOH AS ONE OF THE BEST ASIAN DESTINATIONS TO VISIT. PHOTOS OF THE CONCUBINE LANES STARTED APPEARING IN NEWS ARTICLES.

THE IPOH RAILWAY STATION WAS INITIALLY MEANT TO BE A HOSPITAL AND USED BEFORE THE 20TH CENTURY AS SUCH BEFORE BEING TURNED INTO A STATION. THE ORIGINAL COMPLETION YEAR OF 1917 WAS DELAYED FOR THREE YEARS DUE TO LACK OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AS WELL AS HIGH COSTS DURING WORLD WAR I.

IPOH TOWN HALL IS ONE OF THREE COLONIAL ERA BUILDINGS IN IPOH DESIGNED BY WELL KNOWN BRITISH ARCHITECT ARTHUR BENISON HUBBACK. THE OTHER TWO, IPOH HIGH COURT AND IPOH RAILWAY STATION, ARE A SHORT DISTANCE APART. IPOH RAILWAY STATION IS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND IPOH HIGH COURT IS THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR.