My Time….Chinese temple in Malaysia / 馬來西亞神廟文化.

Guan Yin Ge-Kuala Kubu Baru / 觀音阁-新古毛.

Location:- Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor / 新古毛, 雪蘭莪州.

My last visit to Kuala Kubu Baru was in 2011 and after visiting a temple nearby, it was already getting late to visit this temple then. Since i’m passing through this area, we decided to stop by for a visit.

There is two entrance leading to this place. The first entrance would bring you pass a small bridge and to the steps leading up the hill. Atop those steps, a Pai Lou / 牌樓 stood grandly above. The other entrance is located further down the road and it would let you drive all the way to the top reaching the temples courtyard. Located at the top of a hill, it does has a good view with a statue of Guan Yin Bodhisattva overlooking the nearby village.

The caretaker were going about his chores when we arrive. Mr Yong Wei Sin / 楊偉盛, the caretaker of this temple, has been taking care of this premise for only a few years so the exact history of this temple is not known to him but he did try to help shed some light on its existence.

To determine the exact date on when this temple was first establish prove to be a difficult task. There were a few version of how it all started. Searches on the Internet resulted with conflicting theories.

Some news and reports mention that this place was first establish in 1923 or 1926 or 1953.

However, a marble attach to the inner wall is engraved with brief information about its existence. Based on the inscription, this temple was relocated from its original location in Old Kuala Kubu to this place in 1948 and in 1979, funds were raise for refurbishment along with a committee been setup to manage this temple. An old bell in the temple is engraved with the dated Guang Xu Ding Hai Year / 1887. The date on the bell also gives a clue that this temple, once located in old kuala kubu, may has been around way before the date’s above.

And also, the design on most of the statues in this temple is fairly old and rarely seen today.

Short History about the Flood in Kuala Kubu

There were two known major flood recorded in the history of Old Kuala Kubu. One happened sometime in October 1883 where a major flood was cause by a broken dam and the other happened in December 1926, when heavy rain causes the dam to burst its banks again. Both this events cause the lost of life and properties.

Between that period, there were many floods occurring in the area with each event getting worse than the previous. This is said to be caused by the tin mining activities up stream. The goverment needed a solution and decided to temperory moved all its administration center to a nearby town called Rasa at the same time rebuilding a new town nearby to the previous. This new town is named Kuala Kubu Bharu translated as New Kuala Kubu. The new town were completed in 1931 and all the government administration moved to the new township. Even in 1931, it is also recorded that a major flood did occur at the old town. The location where Old Kuala Kubu town once stood is now known as Ampang Pecah.

A version of its existence.

There is another temple with the same name located in Ampang Pecah (Old Kuala Kubu back then) . It is recorded that this temple survived the major flood in 1926 (some suggested in 1883 but photos and other clues suggested otherwise) and there is a probability that it may have relocated to this new premise on a higher elevated area since the older town was frequently flooded.

Some even suggested that the old temple was left abandoned as the occupants in the Old Kuala Kubu town moved to the new town of Kuala Kubu Bharu. To commemorate the older temple, the villager’s builded a new premise in the new area using the same name.

It was during the early 1980s that the location of where the older temple once stood were rediscovered and with donation from public and charity organisation, it was rebuild back at the original grounds and renamed to Guan Yin Gu Si / 觀音古寺. Today this place is also a famous tourist attraction in Kuala Kubu Bharu.

There are stories that the villager took shelter on a hilly temple during the major flood and also took shelter during the japanese invasion on malaya but i couldn’t determine which temple this is as the date on all these events are not confirm.

Kindly note that the above information were gathered with no documentation. Much are by piecing together the hearsay with resources found from the internet. I hope any of you who hail from this Kuala Kubu Bharu area could shed more light into the history of this temple. Kindly do leave a comment if you do have more information.

The temple now

This temple has huge statue of Si Da Tian Wang / 四大天王 looking at you as you walk into the main prayer hall. Everything inside look as it has stop in time a few decade ago. With the smoke stain surrounding, one could just imagined those grand celebration it held during festival times.

There is a total of seven altar enshrined in the main prayer hall of this temple. The center altar is devoted to the worshipped of its main patron deity, The goddess Guan Yin Pu Sa / 觀音菩薩.

The altar to the left is dedicated to Di Zang Wang Pu Sa / 地藏王菩薩 along with Wei Tuo Pu Sa / 韋馱菩萨, Qi Tian Da Sheng / 齊天大聖, Guan Sheng Da Di / 關聖大帝, Hua Tuo Xian Shi / 華佗仙師, The Eighteen Arhats / Shi Ba Lou Han / 十八羅漢 and Xuan Tan Yuan Shuai / 玄壇元帥 whom is more commonly known as Zhao Gong Ming / 趙公明. The altar to the further left is fill with ancestral tablets with a statue of a monk. This altar, according to the caretaker, is dedicated to the founder of this temple.

Based on information written on a yellow notice attach to this altar to the right, enshrined here are Shang Zhong Xia San Yuan / 上中下三元, Zhun Ti Pu Sa / 準提菩薩, Wen Chang Gong / 文昌公, Hua Guang Da Di / 華光大帝, Tai Yin Xing Jun / 太陰星君, Tai Yang Xing Jun / 太陽星君 and Guang Ze Zun Wang / 廣澤尊王 while the altar to the further right is dedicated to the worshipped of Lord Buddha / Fo Zu / 佛祖 and Tai Sui / 太歲.

An individual altar by the left wall is dedicated to Jin Hua Fu Ren / 金花夫人 aka Jin Hua Niang Niang / 金花娘娘 and the remaining altar by the right wall is dedicated to Fu De Zheng Shen / 福德正神 also commonly known as Da Bo Gong / 大伯公.

An adjoining prayer hall on the side is dedicated to it Yin deities, Cheng Huang Ye / 城隍爺 with Da Bo Ye / 大伯爺 and the civil judge, Pan Guan / 判官. Enshrined along in this prayer hall is the tiger god, Bai Hu / 白虎 and the dragon god, Lung Shen / 龍神. There is also another room by the side that is used to house many ancestors tablet. There is two statue dressed in chinese imperial clothing’s. According to inscription at the base of the statue, one of them is known as Mr.Tan Kim Bee / 陳金美 . It is said that he was once the biggest miner in Kuala Kubu. The named on the other statue is known as Mr Zhang Hon Diao / 張鴻釣. I believe, he too, is a prominent member of the society back then. Kindly do leave a comment if you any information pertaining this two statues or this temple.

Below:- Statue of Mr.Tan Kim Bee / 陳金美.

Below:= Statue of Mr Zhang Hon Diao / 張鴻釣.