Snake Temple
Chinese temple in George Town, Penang, Malaysia
The Snake Temple (Chinese: 蛇庙; pinyin: Shé Miào; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tsuâ-biō), also known as the Temple of the Azure Clouds, is a Chinese temple within George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located at Bayan Lepas, the temple is well-known for being a refuge of resident snakes, said to be reincarnated disciples of the deified Buddhist monk Master Qingshui, to whom the temple is dedicated.
Devotees from as far away as Singapore, Taiwan and China come to pray in the temple on the monk's birthday (the sixth day of the first lunar month). It was also featured during the 8th leg of The Amazing Race 16 and become a backdrop of Tan Twan Eng's novel The Gift of Rain (book 1, chapter 4).
History
The temple was constructed in the 1805 to honour Chor Soo Kong (also known as Master Qingshui), a Buddhist monk who lived during the Song dynasty (960–1279) for his numerous miracles and good deeds especially in healing the sick and giving shelter to snakes. When the temple structure was completed in the 1800s, snakes coming from the species of Wagler's pit viper reportedly appeared by themselves.
Features
The temple is filled with the smoke of burning incense and a variety of pit vipers. The vipers are believed to be rendered harmless by the sacred smoke, but as a safety precaution, the snakes have been de-venomed while still retaining their fangs. Other species of snakes are also found in the temple. Visitors are warned against picking up the reptiles and placing them on their bodies to take pictures.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Snake Temple” as chinese temple in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as chinese temple in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q182774. Authority coordinates are 5.314, 100.285. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1805 and 1279.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Snake Temple” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.