Jade Emperor God Temple


Jade Emperor God Temple or Jade Emperor Pavilion is a Chinese temple located at the foot of Penang Hill at the Air Itam suburb in George Town, Penang. Completed in 1869, it is the only temple in Malaysia to be built specifically for the worship of the Jade Emperor and becomes a focal point for the annual Jade Emperor's Birthday celebrations on the 9th day of Chinese New Year.
The temple was featured in Episode 8 of The Amazing Race 16.

History

The temple was built in the 1860s by members of the ethnic Chinese Hokkien community in Malaysia and underwent a restoration beginning in 2002.

Features

The temple location at the foot of Penang Hill are surrounded by lush greenery with 110 flights of granite stairs as the path towards the temple. Its archway is decorated with century-old stone carvings, with the temple architecture is a combination between Buddhist and Taoist architectures. In its first shrine hall, there are three gold-plated Buddha statues while the Jade Emperor God sits in the main shrine hall.