Pu-Sen Pu Sa by Chang Ta-chien

THE Perak Cave Temple in Ipoh is often referred to as the Dunghuang Cave in the South by visiting Chinese artists and scholars.

Like the Dunghuang Cave west of Xian in China, visitors to the Perak temple are often enchanted by the paintings and calligraphy on the cave walls of the five-hectare temple.

Cave owner Chong Yin Chat said the walls were adorned with more than 200 paintings, calligraphic masterpieces by famous artists from Malaysia and countries including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

Chong said the contour of the cave walls brought out a three-dimensional effect on the paintings.

Visitors can also view formations of stalactites and stalagmites in floral shapes, figures resembling dragons, phoenixes and other fascinating images that stirred one's imagination, he said.

Few realise that the name “Pek Lik Tong” (Perak Cave) inscribed in Chinese characters on the rocks at the cave entrance was the work of Hu Shih (1891-1962), who led Chinese writers to start a literary revolution known as the Chinese Renaissance in 1917 in an attempt to advocate the written use of colloquial language and to heighten its status as a means of scholarly expression.

The literary revolution freed Chinese thoughts from the bondage of the classical style and created a new plain language literature.

The first painting in the cave, of the deity Wai To Pu Sa, was done in 1957 by Tseng Hou-hsi, a Hong Kong artist famous for his paintings of Buddhist figures.

On an inner wall of the main cavern is the painting of the Bodhisattva, Pu-Sen Pu Sa, a masterpiece by one of Asia's most influential artists, Chang Ta-chien (1899-1983).

Chang was one of the first Chinese artists to blend traditional Eastern art with contemporary Western art influences.

The cave walls in the temple also display impressive paintings by Chang's students. They include the painting Goddess by Chen Liu-lin.

Other artists and scholars whose work can be found inside the cave temple include Yuan Yi-cheng, Li Ping-jen, Yi Chun-tso, Zhu Mo, Chang Jen-shih, Wang Shih-chao and Lee Siow-mong.

Chong said that besides the art and natural formations, the beauty of the temple included the oriental aura that emanated from the temple's exterior.

The lotus pond and giant Goddess Of Mercy constructed under the shade of swaying willows near the temple entrance are among the scenic spots.

Various adjacent chambers honour different deities.

The main statues to be admired are the 15m-high Sakyamuni Buddha in the main chamber and the Maitreya Buddha, or Laughing Buddha, in an inner chamber.

The statue with its perpetual smile and extraordinarily large abdomen stands guard at the entrance to a flight of stairs that spirals to the peak of the hill where visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of Ipoh city and its surrounding areas.

Chong said the cave was developed by his father, Chong Sen-yee, who came to Ipoh in 1926 from his ancestral home in the Chiaoling County, Chiaying, in the Guangdong Province.

Sen-yee, who had a passion for travelling, was enchanted by the beauty of the town which reminded him of the mountains and waters of China's Quilin.

Sen-yee found the cave cooling and applied to the Perak government to develop it into a place for worship.

He did it in stages as the place was then little more than a primeval jungle.

However, he received tremendous support from well-wishers and the jungle-clad land was eventually turned into a cave temple of natural beauty after 50 years.

Before his death in 1980, Sen-yee spent most of his years in the temple studying Buddhist classics and writing poetry for relaxation.

His poems that featured Buddhist philosophy attracted poetry lovers from overseas.

“The Perak Cave Temple is the place to visit if you are interested in Chinese art and culture,” said Chong.

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