Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi clan Temple, Penang

This is my visit to the Leong San Tong (Khoo Kongsi clan) Temple, in Penang. My first time!

Tel: +604 261 4609
Information ource: www.virtualtourist.com

This is a Chinese meeting house/temple. The Khoo clan, who immigrated from Hokkien province in China, acquired this spot in 1851 and set to work building row houses, administrative buildings, and a clan temple around a large square. The temple here now was actually built in 1906 after a fire destroyed its predecessor. It was believed the original was too ornate, provoking the wrath of the gods.

The forefathers of the Khoo family who emigrated from South China built it as a clan-house for members of the Khoo family. It was burnt down in 1894 and some believed that it was due to its resemblance to the Emperor's palace. A scaled down version was later built in 1902. The building features a magnificent hall embellished with intricate carvings and richly ornamented beams of the finest wood bearing the mark of master craftsmen from China.

Penang's most famous historic monument is one of the foremost examples of South Chinese building arts and crafts from the early 20th century. The present Khoo family ancestral temple was built in 1906. The most lavish of family temple that exists in Asia. Khoo kongsi historic complex consists of a magnificent ancestral temple, a theatre, an association building and rowhouses surrounding a granite-paved square. At first the rowhouses were built by various branches of the clan for their immediate relations. for your knowledge, this historical place was a filming location for the movie "Anna and the King". Jodie Foster complimented the trustees for "a good job in preserving such a marvelous historical building"

Back outside...


It was a bright sunny morning!

A reminder that this was a UNESCO world heritage site was clear to be seen on the banner.

Another one of the houses at the Courtyard