Photos sharing - Sam Poh Temple (三宝万佛寺) at Brinchang, Cameron Highlands

After breakfast at the hotel, before we check out from the hotel, we visited this Famous Buddhist Temple at Brinchang - Sam Poh Temple (N4.48878 E101.39056).

"Sam Poh Buddhist Temple located in Brinchang. It built high on a hill overlooking Brinchang town. Due to its location, the temple has a good view of Brinchang town and the houses that dot the little hills surrounding Brinchang. Sam Poh Temple built in 1972, is is the 4th largest Buddhist temple in the country. Amongst others, it houses a large statue of Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The temple is quite pretty and has been well maintained by residents and monks. Surrounded by a bright yellow wall, the temple is serene and peaceful. Inside are lots of different statues, both Buddhist and Chinese, and incense burning in the background in memory of those passed on. Remove your shoes before entering the temple halls. But be careful, the marbled floor is so chilly to the feet without wearing a pair of socks." Source from here.

Beside of praying, there are many rooms beside the temple. According to friends, those Buddhism can stay at the temple for RM80 per day, for praying, chanting and meditation. But I couldn't find any other information about it...especially the contact person...

Let me share some photos of the temple here....

The main hall once entering the temple

The Deity in the main hall...

Both side of the Deity are the 'Four Heavenly Kings' (四大天王)...

'Four Heavenly Kings' (四大天王)

On the second hall...

Proceed to second hall...

The deities in the second hall

The third hall...

The thrid hall of Sam Poh Temple

On the right of the three halls...there was another small praying area...

There are many deities here which I cannot recognize them....
On the right of the deity above...

Left...

We were walking around the temple for about an hour and enjoyed the peacefulness of the area...there were some monks around doing the cleaning and some tourists and locals who came for praying...

The outlook of the temple on 1946 (below)...just wondering, it's this temple related to 'Cheng Ho'? Because of the name - Sam Poh which is similar with the Cheng Ho well at Malacca...

Sam Poh Temple during year 1946

Once we left the temple, it was almost the time we say bye-bye to Cameron Highlands....proceed to check out from the Rosa Passadena Hotel...

Related post :-
*  My Cameron Highlands 3 days 2 nights trip on November 2012

Location map of Sam Poh Buddhist Temple at Brinchang, Cameroon Highlands

View Larger Map

Pura Tirta Empul (The Temple of Holy Water) at Tampaksiring, Bali

The Pura Tirta Empul (S8.41586 E115.31516) at Tampaksiring is situated about 18KM from the BAS Coffee Farm. It was our next destination after the Luwak Coffee session. The place was calm and peaceful during our visit, and not crowded at all...

The Legend of the Temple :-
"The sacred spring was created by the god Indra. His forces had been poisoned by Mayadanawa, so he pierced the earth to create a fountain of immortality to revive them.

An inscription dates the founding of a temple at the site to 926 AD. Ever since - for more than a thousand years - the Balinese have come to bathe in the sacred waters for healing and spiritual merit." Source from here.

There are many statues around the garden and temple area from the entrance.

Different statues at Pura Tirta Empul.

Beside the statues, there are also many signages...and we have to read carefully and follow the procedures...

Caution : You are entering the Holy Temple, please do not littering...

One of the entrance to the temple.

The signage above is located before the Purifying pool...in Indonesian Language.

The Purifiying pool of Pura Tirta Empul, Bali

It is the rectangular pool carved of stone. The water in the pool was Crystal clear! Where we can easily see the rocks at the bottom of the pool...

Crystal clear water in the pool

Just for that clean and crystal clear water, we (me, my friend & his elder son) decided to do the purifying like others...:) So we asked Mr Agus to help us on the ceremony and tell us the procedures...

All of us must wear with the 'Sarong' from the temple before get into the pool. There are many lockers around the area for you to keep your valueble items...each locker cost IDR 3,000.00 (about MYR1 / USD 0.33).

Once everything ready, we slowly soaked into the first pool (There are 2 pools at the temple). BEWARE! It was slippery! I slipped from the step and falled directly into the Ice Cold pool! Haha! We had to finished from the first fountain until the last fountain in the purifying pool, total of 22 fountains (if I'm not mistaken). I was shivering after the fifth fountains...it was extremely cold! WOW!
It tooks about 30 minutes to finished the purifying and we quickly changed and warm up our body! Yes, too cold for me! :)

Then we started our tour at the other side of the temple...

Beautiful stone sculptures from the temple

There were some Balinese Hinduism praying ceremony during our visit...

The ceremony in the temple...

We passed through the pool of the sacred spring water, the spring water is continue from the pool non-stop more than thousand years ago...

The pool where the sacred water came from...

Peaceful while walking in the temple...
Before we reach the exit of the temple, we came to another pool which full of koi...and there were some souvenirs shops beside the pool...

It was a life experience for us in the purifying process of the temple, the skin was smooth and clean after bathing from the spring water! I will do it again if I re-visit the temple.

If you don't mind, you might want to try the purifying in the Ice Cold spring water pool! :)

Close up of the fountain

Related post :-
*  My Bali trip on June 2011
*  My Bali trip on June 2010

Location map of Pura Tirta Empul at Tampaksiring, Bali

View Larger Map

Wenwu Temple (文武廟), Nantou County of Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

Visited the Wenwu Temple (文武廟) (N23.86960 E120.92685) after the Lake Cruise. There were many stalls in front of the temple selling souvenirs and local foods...

Before we step into the temple, I was attracted by this staircase...it was Full of little lantern bell on the both sides...

The staircase was locked with grill door and it's not accessible for public...and there was a write up about it beside the door...

"Getting to Wenwu Temple in earlier days was not so convenient as it is now; there was no round-the-lake road, and visitors had to take a boat to the pier below the temple and then climb up a lot of steps. Because the slope was so steep, the steps were called the "Stairway to Heaven". Now the steps are not needed to get to the temple, and they have been renovated into a 150-meter path with 366 steps the symbolize the 366 days in a leap year. The name of a historical personage is carved on each step, and the steps also incorporate the 24 bells on the two sides of the steps; the bells chime in the wind adding much to the romantic atmosphere. If you want to hang your own bell, ask the temple official how to do it."

The Little Lantern Bell

"The Wenwu Temple was established in BC1812, which was meant to be a place for youth people advocating the loyalty and learning martial arts. The Wen Shrine worships the Wenchang Dijun while the Wu Temple worships the Guansheng Dijun. Two temples lines each other in a wall. In that, the two are together called Wenwu Temple." You can read more about the history of the temple here.

The temple is guarded with 2 big Red Lions on both side

I was really attracted by the stone and wood carved within the temple! Amazing! You can see the nice wood carved at the roof before you step in...it's all over everywhere in the temple.

The two tigers beside the temple

The first hall of the temple...

There are total 3 main halls in the temple...we visited one by one slowly...

And we continue to the second hall...it was full of the little lantern bells again!

The second hall

The Little Lantern Bell

Beautiful stone carved

The decoration was very nice! And we slowly proceed to the third hall...

Behind the third hall, there was still some construction work carried on, I believe the restoration of the temple has not complete yet. But the stone carved was Awesome! It's all about Confucius.

We climbed up to the highest point of the temple just to snapped some nice photos about the temple...

The roofs of the temples

I can't post all the photos of the temple, because there are about 100 photos taken...
If you like to take nice photo of the temple, try to visit it on sunny day.

We hanged around the temple about 45 minutes and everyone were hungry...and we started the food hunt again! :)

The Wenwu Temple of Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

Related post :-
*  My Taiwan Trip on May, 2011

Location map of Wenwu Temple at Sun Moon Lake - Taiwan

View Larger Map