Kek lok tong temple is situated at the picturesque area of Gunung Rapat in the south of Ipoh – the capital of Perak state in west Malaysia. Its 200 km from Kuala Lumpur if you are travelling straight from Kuala Lumpur and 5km from the south of Ipoh city. This temple is a cave temple which sits on a 12 acre of naturally beautiful place under the huge signature limestone hill encircled by spectacular scenery. Kek Lok Tong, sometimes spelled as Kek Look Tong is well known as a cave of ultimate bliss or great happiness and indeed it brings a true feeling of peace and bliss visiting there.
In 1920 Kek Lok Tong temple opened as worship place and in 1960 it became a part of iron mining and now it is a tourist spot. While entering the temple you can see the Guan Yin (goddess of mercy) standing at the right side of the temple.
The magnitude of the cavern was quite impressive. At the entrance you can feed the koi fish with food bought inside the complex. There were various stone sculptures lined the entrance like the great wall of china, dragon, stone miniatures of the temple, laughing Buddha, Singapore’s famous merlion (sea lion) etc.
this is the three Pure Pellucid ones, the three highest taoist deities.They are regarded as pure manifestation of the Tao and the origin of all sentiments beings.Read more about them here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Pure_Ones
The front portion of the cave has some Taoist statues whereas at the back side of the temple there is a big golden Buddha statue. The cave was very windy and comfortable as the weather was quite hot and humid outside.
There is a beautiful Zen garden behind the temple. You can enjoy the scenery of the rocky hill, big pond, gazebos, a reflexology path, monkeys, lushly green trees with colorful flowers. A garden worth to take a stroll and of course pose for some amazing pictures.
I would say the cave temple is very well managed, restrooms were clean and there were lots of parking bays so you don’t have to worry about looking for a parking lot. Entrance to the temple is completely free but you can make a donation though if you want to help the authorities in maintaining this beautiful place.
Opening hours:
Daily, 7am – 5.30 pm, including public holidays
Address:
Kek Look Tong
Gunung Rapat,
Ipoh, Perak
Tel: 605-312-81129
Website: www.keklooktong.org