Penang Buddhist Temples

Buddhist Temples in Penang

Penang Buddhist Temples are mostly of Thai or Burmese origin, although there are a number of Chinese inspired Buddhist religious institutions here. The Chinese Buddhist temples are likely to follow the precepts of Mahayana Buddhism while the Thai and Burmese temples follow Theravada Buddhism. The majority of the devotees are Chinese, although once a while, there is the odd Thai or Sri Lankan devotee at these temples. The common believer may call himself a Buddhist, but might not be able to differentiate Mahayana from Theravada.

The origin of Mahayana Buddhism is unknown, given that it may have existed in or in similar form without a name for centuries. Scholars believe that the Mahayana way of Buddhism originated in India and spread to China when Mahayana Buddhist scriptures were brought there in the second century BC. It grew during the Gupta Dynasty, which ruled parts of northern India, eastern Pakistan, Bangladesh and western India, from 320 to 550 AD. It allows the religion to spread to Southeast Asia (the ruins at Borobudur and the Buddhist ruins at Angkor of the earlier periods are Mahayana). From Southeast Asia, Mahayana Buddhism to central Asia, China, Korea and Japan. Thus, the type of Buddhism followed by these countries today is Mahayana.

The Theravada form of Buddhism traces its roots to the Third Buddhist Council, which took place around 250 BC, during the reign of Emperor Asoka. It spreads south to Sri Lanka. Ruins in places like Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka shows Theravada Buddhism architecture at its earliest stage. From Sri Lanka, it spreads to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Temples in places like Bagan, Ayutthaya and Luang Prabang are all Theravada Buddhism, while in Angkor, there is a transition from Mahayana, which came earlier, to Theravada, which is the common practise in Cambodia today.

The majority of Buddhists in Penang are Chinese. The non-Christian Chinese layman might not be aware of the form of Buddhism he practises, and is as likely to visit a Thai Buddhist temple as well as a Chinese Buddhism monastery, and think nothing of dabbling in Taoism. Such is the case in Penang, as well as Malaysia on the whole, that a fusion of beliefs has taken root. Those who have professed the Christian faith will however have abandoned such practises.

View Buddhist Temples and Associations in Penang in a larger map

Addresses of more Buddhist temples and related associations

Paramita Buddhist Association
Lorong Maju Jaya 1
14000 Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Phone: 012 488 7900

List of Buddhist Temples in Malaysia

Private Guided Tours of Penang

If you are seeking private guided tours of Penang, message Penang Tour Guides at penangtourguides@gmail.com and enquire with them.

 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

Adakah anda mempunyai hartanah untuk dijual atau disewakan? Adakah anda ingin membeli atau menyewa hartanah? Hubungi saya. WhatsApp saya (Timothy Tye) di 012 429 9844, dan saya akan menugaskan salah seorang ejen hartanah saya untuk berkhidmat kepada anda. Saya akan pilih ejen untuk anda, mengikut keperluan hartanah anda. Oleh itu, apabila anda menghantar mesej kepada saya, berikan saya beberapa butiran tentang apa yang anda perlukan, sama ada untuk menjual, untuk membeli, untuk disewakan atau untuk disewakan, dan jenis hartanah apakah itu kondo, pangsapuri, rumah, kedai, pejabat atau tanah.

您有待出售或出租的房产吗？ 您想购买或租赁房产吗？ 与我联系。 WhatsApp 我 (Timothy Tye) 012 429 9844，我将指派一名房地产经纪人为您服务。 我会根据您的房产需求，为您选择代理。 因此，当您给我发消息时，请向我提供一些您需要的详细信息，无论是出售、购买、出租还是出租，以及房产类型，是公寓、公寓、房屋、商店、办公室还是土地。

 New Properties in Penang

Looking to buy property in Penang? Get the e-brochures right here without having to visit or contact individual developers.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Share your travels and/or ask a travel-related question

Join the Penang Travel Tips Facebook Group to share photos, tips and anything related to your travels, or ask travel-related questions.

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Discover with Timothy

Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Songs about Penang

About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.