Temple may be restored
IPOH: The Da Xiong Bao Dian temple here, thought to be at least 100 years old, might be restored to its former glory by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry.
Perak MCA chairman Datuk Ong Ka Chuan said its deputy minister Datuk Wong Kam Hoong had asked him to look into the history of the place and confirm its heritage value.
“The ministry will then see if it’s worth preserving or reviving as a tourist attraction,” he told reporters during his first visit to the site yesterday.
The cave temple had been forgotten after a mudslide covered it in 1974.
SITE ASSESSMENT: Ong (left) and Simpang Pulai assemblyman Alex Chan Chin Chee (centre) inspecting the interior of the temple in Ipoh Wednesday.
Members of the Ipoh Benevolent Society stumbled across it last year while building a structure near the Kuan Yin Tong temple at Jalan Raja Dr Nazrin Shah.
Ong, after an hour-long inspection, said the temple was of the Mahayana sect, based on an inscription found on a wall.
He added that the temple could be about 200 years old because Buddhist monks of the Mahayana sect arrived in the country in the 19th century.
“Before that, the Theravada school of thought, brought in from Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand, was more prevalent,” he said.
“It’s very interesting. If it’s true that it’s around 200 years old, it could be an important historical monument.”
Ong, a follower of Mahayana Buddhism for most of his life, described the temple as a “smaller version of Angkor Wat” because of the many large tree roots growing over it.
He planned to speak to several Buddhist leaders in Perak who might know of the temple to try and determine its history.
So far, said Ong, no one he had contacted knew about the place.
He said it was unlikely that the temple was only a few decades old as the architecture was obviously very old.
“We have to be careful not to encroach too much. We need to look at the safety aspects before the temple can be considered an attraction,” he added. |