We start our excursion with a stroll to discover Georgetown, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, along the Street of Harmony, the main road crossing the historic city centre from north to south. Everyone calls it “Pitt Street” in honour of British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. The name “Street of Harmony” derives from the fact that it is overlooked by buildings from all the main religions found in Malaysia.
We pass in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower, a stark white clock tower in the Moorish style right in the middle of a busy roundabout. The tower was commissioned in 1897 and was a symbolic gift of a wealthy local landowner in occasion of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee: the tower is in fact 60 feet tall (around 18 metres), one for each year.
We start our walk and admire the Neoclassical architecture of St.George’s Church, the oldest Anglican Church in south-east Asia built in 1818 by the British East India Company and one of the most ancient buildings in Penang.
We then reach the Chinese temple of Kuan Yin with its dragon-adorned pillars, dedicated to the goddess of mercy and an assembly point for women praying for their families,; the Sri Mahamariamman Indian Temple; the Kapitan Keling mosque, the largest and oldest mosque in Penang distinguished by its white colour and built in 1801 yet refurbished in the Anglo-Moorish style in the early 20th century by Indian migrants of Muslim origin; the Little India district where Indian families have gathered ever since the city was first founded and, last but not least, the renowned Khoo Kongsi temple, the most sumptuous in all Malaysia whose walls, pillars and roofs are decorated with carvings representing the marks of Chinese master craftsmen.
The temple was built around 650 years ago and was rebuilt in 1920 after a fire. It has an enormous historic and cultural value and used to be the meeting place of a Chinese clan. The Chinese term “kongsi” in fact literally means “company” or “meeting hall”. These facilities had a number of functions and services both for families belonging to the same clan and to facilitate relationships between Chinese migrants, to celebrate civil and religious ceremonies - especially those relating to the cult of the ancestors - and to foster business relationships.
Our tour of Georgetown continues with a visit to Wat Chaiya Mankalaram, the Thai temple of the Reclining Buddha built in 1845 during colonial times. The exterior features characterised by lively colours and a grand golden pagoda. The entrance to the main hall is protected by the nagas, golden creatures similar to snakes and by two demons brandishing a sword. The interior contrasts with the exterior due to its simplicity: the hall is bare and dominated by an enormous 33-metre reclining Buddha draped in a gold sarong. The lying or reclining Buddha is an allegoric representation of interior peace and detachment from the world.
Right in front of it, we find another Buddhist temple: the Dhammikarama Burmese Temple. In this temple, the standing Buddha statue is 11 metres tall and has an enigmatic smile and huge white hands, one pointing upwards and one downwards, an allegoric representation of meditation and enlightenment.
Before returning to the port, we visit the Chew Jetty on the Georgetown seafront, a district featuring houses built on stilts forming a true village on water built by the first Chinese immigrants. The houses are mostly inhabited by Chinese families traditionally divided into “clans”. The jetties are divided according to the families or clans who inhabit them. Chew Jetty is the largest and boasts plenty of shops and restaurants.
After the visit, we board our coach again to return to the ship.