Ipoh is the third city of Malaysia.
It's a relatively wealthy city, which earned its fortunes on the tin
trade. Ipoh has become a modern metropolis home to over half a million
people. It was once a great tin mining centre but today it is the
main tourist gateway in the state. It’s not hard to find the reason why
for this delightful city has a wide range of historic, cultural, and
architectural attractions which are relatively concentrated and easily
accessible. It has several good museums and limestone cave temples to
explore and good recreational facilities There are a number of excellent attractions you must
see on the outskirts of the city, including the Chinese cave temples,
Kellie's Castle and the Tambun Hot Springs.
Ipoh is a "Chinese City". A large proportion of its population
is Chinese. No wonder as one of Ipoh`s famous citizen is:
Michelle Yeoh. She's the star actress of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
and former Bond girl in Tommorow Never Dies. l
Hidden Dragon.
If you're only coming
through on your way to KL or Penang, the train only stops a while so
you can run out and observe for about 15 seconds before you have to
re-board. If you have time to stop in Ipoh, you should try to find a
stall selling Ipoh Hor Fun (a noodle dish).
Ipoh 'Ngah Choy Kai' is a bean sprout and chicken dish. Tou should try
this. It's recommended by Lee Chin Thang, who lives in Ipoh and knows
what and where to eat. The bean sprouts in Ipoh have a distinct
quality, special taste, that is hard to find elsewhere. It is
thought to be due to the water from the limestone hills.
Many can be reached by buses from Ipoh to Gopeng and some of the
more famous include Perak Tong (on the road north toward Jelapang),
Kek Lok Tong and Sam Poh Tong (both on the road to Gopeng and Batu
Gajah). Buses leave every hour between KL and Penang to Ipoh and you
can also reach it from Taiping and Kuala Kangsar at the same
intervals. .
One of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the city and an
outstanding example of Moorish architecture is the Ipoh Railway
Station. It is one of the most photographed buildings in Malaysia
and its architecture so distinguished that it is often referred to
as the “Taj Mahal” of Ipoh. It was built in 1917 and this
landmark building is fronted by a very attractive floral garden.
Another outstanding landmark building in Ipoh is the State Mosque (Masjid
Negeri). One of its key architectural features is its minaret that
rises some 125 feet above its mosaic-tiled domes. Masjid Negeri is
the largest mosque in Perak. It is a splendid symbol of Islam - the
State’s official religion - and its fine architecture exercises
interest to both foreign and domestic tourists.
The Birch Memorial Tower in Jalan Raja Musa Aziz is also prominent
landmark in the city. It was constructed in memory of the British
resident. J.W.W. Birch, who was killed at Pasir Salak on November
2nd, 1875.
There is also
a children’s playground and out-door eateries providing some of Ipoh’s better known hawker fare.
The car number plates in Ipoh begin with the letter A- Historically
being a rich tin mining town (as you have rightly mentioned) the first
car in Malaysia was registered here. Hence the letter A was given.
The Sam Poh Tong cave temple is
located in Gunung Rapat south of Ipoh. The temple is an impressive
work of art with statues of Lord Buddha interspersed among the
natural stalactites and stalagmites and is reputedly the largest
cave temple in Malaysia. The temple dates back to the 1890s and a
monk from China, passing through Ipoh found the cave and decided to
make it his domicile and a place for meditation. He remained in the
temple for 20 years until his death.
The Sam Poh Tong cave temple is still occupied by monks and nuns who
dedicate their lives to Buddha. The present temple façade dates
back to the 1950s and a climb of 246 steps leads to an open cave
with an altar hall and splendid panoramic views of Ipoh and its
surroundings. Outside the cave temple is a beautiful Japanese Garden
with a pond full of Japanese carps and tortoises. A vegetarian
restaurant is also located in the grounds of the temple.
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In the Keramat Pulai area, which stretches from the eastern edge of
Gunung Raat to the western edge of Gunung Terandum, besides Sam Poh
Tong there are a further six established cave temples. They are Ling
Sen Tong, Nam Thian Tong ,Kwan Yin Tong, Kek Long Tong,Chee Chei
Buddhist Temple and Sri Muneswari Hindu Temple.
The Perak Tong, a limestone cave temple, is situated at Jalan Kuala
Kangsar north of Ipoh. This particular Temple houses more than 40
statues, the centre piece being a 12.8 m high sitting Buddha. Next
to it is an altar for Kuan Yin (the goddess of Mercy), Maitreya (the
future Buddha vairochana) and others. Beyond the main altar, there
is a passage, which leads into the interior of the cave, on the
walls of the cave are a number of mystical mural paintings.
The Indian Temple (Kallumalai arul Migu Subramaniam Koil) at Gunung
Cheroh, set amongst impressive limestone hills is another cultural
attraction and focus for Hindu devotions and Hindu cultural
festivals such as Deepavali and Thaipusam are widely celebrated in
Ipoh.
Tambun Hot
Springs are situated Tanjung Rambutan 15 minutes drive east of the
city of Ipoh.
It is a natural spa located at the bottom of a limestone hill. The
hot water from a natural spring provides a very refreshing dip or
bath. There are facilities available such as saunas and rest rooms.
Kellie's Castle is
located in Batu Gajah. It was built by a Scottish planter called
William Kellie Smith as a castle of love for his wife. Smith himself
was from a small town in Scotland known as Kellas. In 1890, at the
age of 20, he arrived in the then undeveloped Malaya.
He made his fortune in tin and rubber and then he returned home to
marry his Scottish sweetheart, Agnes, and brought her over to
Malaysia in 1903. The following year, the couple was blessed with a
daughter named Helen.
For many years after that, Agnes tried to conceive, but to no avail.
William Smith desperately wanted a son and heir to take over his
empire in the Malay Isles. After many years, Agnes finally gave
birth to a son called Anthony in 1915. The birth of his child was
the start of even greater success for William Smith. To celebrate
Anthony's birth, William Smith decided to expand on his mansion.
Smith started planning for a huge castle which he planned to call
Kellas House, after his hometown in Scotland.
Because of
his fascination with the Hindu religion and the Indian culture,
Smith's plans was for this house to share similar architecture to
those of Madras, with all its bricks and tiles imported from India.
He even employed a big group of Indian laborers to build his dream
house, to keep the Kellas House authentically Indian. The mansion is
accessible from the main road through a bridge running across a
stream.
But it was not only the cost of importing material and laborers from
abroad that made the house so fascinating to fascinate locals and
travelers alike. Among the many amazing things about Kellie's Castle
include an elevator (unheard of in Malaya in those days, the one
built in Kellie's Castle is the first in Malaya) which connects
right up to the top floor and the existence of two tunnels that run
under the river nearby. One of these tunnels connects to the Hindu
temple some distance away to the main house. On the second floor,
Smith planned to build an indoor tennis court -- an ambitious
project even by today's standards. On the highest floor, there is a
rooftop courtyard for parties. This castle was to be the hub for
entertaining wealthy colonial planters who have settled in Malaya.
His house was so unique that it was even mentioned in the London
Financier newspaper on 15 September 1911.
Unfortunately for Smith,
tragedies struck soon after the construction of the Kellas House
begin. A virulent strain of the "Spanish flu" spread from
Europe to Asia soon after World War I ended in Europe, killing many
of the workers in Kellas Estate. Another seventy workers
constructing Smith's dream castle also became victims of the flu.
Smith, who has already spent a fortune on his house, lost a lot of
money because of this.
In the end, Kellas House was never completed. William Kellie Smith
himself died of pneumonia during a short trip to Portugal in 1926.
His heartbroken wife decided to pack up and return home to Scotland
selling the estate and Kellie's Castle to a British company called
Harrisons and Crosfield.
For some reason or other, Kellas Home, later known as Kellie's
Castle or even Kellie's Folly to some, was never completed. However,
despite more than eighty years of vandalism and neglect until the
government refurbished the house in 2000, the building remained a
tourist attraction for many years prior to that.
Today, visitors can still
"meet" William Kellie Smith and his two children at
Kellie's Castle. Sculptures of them are still standing on the
exterior wall, but the one of his beloved wife fell off some years
ago. For safety reasons however, the tunnels have been sealed off.
Apparently, one of Kellie's car is parked somewhere in one of the
tunnels! Despite the ravages of time and neglect, the entire estate
oozes with romanticism of the colonial era in Malaya.
After visiting Kellie's Castle, do not forget to take a short walk
to the Hindu temple constructed by Smith to appease the Gods after
his workers died of the Spanish flu. The architecture of the temple
is a curious mix of Moorish, Greco-Roman and Indian design.
Encapsulated forever in a moment in time is the odd, misplaced
figurine of Kellie in his planter's suit and topee among the sixty
deities on the temple roof.
Few temples around the country actually owe their existence to a
colonial expatriate like this insignificant temple in the outskirts
of Batu Gajah. And obviously the Hindu temple held enough
fascination for William Smith to build a secret tunnel connecting
the temple and his house.
About 20-30 minutes outside of Ipoh, near the town of Gopeng (heading
towards KL) lies the 'Gua Tempurung' (gua = cave; tempurung = coconut
shell). The cave is opened to visitor and is extremely large with
underground rivers. It leads right out to a part of the NSE. It used
to be a dwelling place for the communist terrorists. Be prepared to
get wet!
