Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (青云亭) and Kling Mosque at Malacca

Cheng Hoon Teng Temple (N2 11.850 E102 14.814) And Kling Mosque (N2 11.806 E102 14.848) are located at the Goldsmith Street (Jalan Tukang Emas aka Jalan Tokong) of Malacca town.

These are the First Place Of Worship for the two religious in Malaysia, and of course they are the oldest too! You can read more about their histories below...

History of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple :
"Built in 1645 by Kapitan Lee Wei King with building materials imported from China, Cheng Hoon Teng served as the main place of worship for the local Hoklo (Hokkien) community. The main hall was built by Kapitan Chan Ki Lock in 1704 and was rebuilt in 1801 by Kapitan China Chua Su Cheong, who contributed to the aesthetic and magnificent structural additions of the building.
In 1962, then abbot Seck Kim Seng ordained Houn Jiyu-Kennett, a Zen nun from England and the future founder of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives, at this temple.
In 2003, Cheng Hoon Teng was awarded a UNESCO award for outstanding architectural restoration." Source from Wiki.

"The richly decorated Cheng Hoon Teng temple covers an area of 4,600 m².
Featuring a magnificent main gate along Jalan Tokong, the Cheng Hoon Teng temple consists of a complex of several prayer halls, with a large main prayer hall dedicated to the goddess of mercy, Kuan Yin. Additional smaller prayer quarters were added later. One of these is dedicated to the Taoist gods of wealth, longevity and propagation, while another houses ancestral tablets." Source from Wiki.


The building was built without a single 'nail' or 'screw'. That's one of the masterpiece! There are many tourist visit this temple everyday, sometimes it can be really crowded...

Below are some photos of the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple...






I spend about an hour walking around and continue visit the next place of worship - Kling Mosque. The distance between this temple and mosque is only 120 meter.

"The Masjid Kampong Kling, built in 1748, is one of the oldest mosques in Malaysia."

"A courtyard behind the mosque contains a fountain-like pool for ablutions that is raised a few steps above ground level and circumambulated by a similarly raised and covered walkway. The commanding minaret was built entirely of masonry in contrast to the accompanying timber mosque. Likened to a Chinese pagoda or stupa form, this type of minaret has become characteristic of Malacca. Renaissance embellishments include the use of engaged columns as well as the arched windows and piping that traces them. Minarets are not traditional to Malay Islamic architecture, though they have become increasingly more prevalent and are useful in demarcating the mosque in dense urban areas. In 1868 the mosque and its minaret were enclosed by a high wall to protect it from the street."

"Chinese ceramic tiles were imported to adorn the roof, the floor and the lower walls of the mosque. Furthermore, decorative motifs such as those applied to the doors and windows and ornamentation such as the curved eaves terminating in sculptural finials on the roof are attributed to an Oriental influence, as is the rooftop ornament, or mastaka. Built during the Dutch occupation that followed the period of Portuguese rule, European touches reveal themselves in the mosque in such elements as rendered plaster on the internal masonry walls." Source from here.

I found the special of this mosque was the Pagoda at the right. According to some history articles, it was due to Dutch architecture.
I was not enter the mosque because I saw many tourists looking at the mosque from outside and seems like not allow to entering the mosque. So I just snap a few photos of the building.