Penang, Malaysia Day 4

In Penang there is a temple that has live pit viper snakes that roam in the temple. No cages, no fences, no one monitoring… and only a simple warning sign that says do not harm the snakes.. (how about snakes don’t harm me!!)

The Snake temple was built in 1805 to honor a Buddhist monk named Chor Soo Kong who dedicated his life in healing and caring for snakes. The story is that after the temple was constructed the Wagler pit viper snakes just showed up or they came down from the mountains to live in the temple. The temple has a big following from Singapore, China and Malaysia where they gather on Chor Soo Kong’s birthday to worship.

They say that the smoke from the burning incense in the temple helps to render the snakes harmless, but there are several stray cats walking around the temple without an eye or a deformed face. Maybe they were not burning incense that day.. lol.

Behind the temple they have created a breeding sancuary for the pit vipers snakes which you can walk around and see the snakes laying and sun bathing in trees. Again no fences or cages and they can come and go as they please.