Sam Poh Tong

Sam Poh Tong is in the limestone of Gunung Rapat south of Ipoh and is generally given as the oldest of the city's cave temples, discovered by a monk from China in the 1890s who then lived in it for about twenty years. The complex runs from an ornamental garden and pond at the front, through the cave chambers with their Buddha images and stalactites, to an opening at the back where the rock walls rise around an enclosed courtyard. A pond in the grounds holds a large number of tortoises, released there over the years as a merit-making act, and it is the thing children remember. There is a vegetarian restaurant attached. The neighbouring Ling Sen Tong and Nam Thean Tong temples are within a few hundred metres, and most visits take in all three.

History

A monk from China walking through from Ipoh found the cave in 1890 and made it his home and place of meditation for the rest of his life, and other monks and nuns carried on after him (Wikipedia, Sam Poh Tong Temple).

What you'll find

• Ipoh's oldest cave temple - occupied by a monk from the 1890s for two decades.
• A tortoise pond - animals released as merit-making, in numbers.
• Cave chambers with images - Buddhas set among stalactites in the rock.
• An enclosed rear courtyard - open to the sky with cliff walls around it.

When to go

All year. An hour.

Good to know

The tortoise pond has been criticised on welfare grounds and can be overcrowded. Parts of the complex have looked run down between renovations. It is small and quickly seen.

Nearby

Ling Sen Tong and Nam Thean Tong are adjacent; Kek Look Tong is nearby.

Key facts