Penang’s Snake Temple in Bayan Lepas is rich with local folklore. The temple was built in 1850 in honor of a venerated Buddhist monk and healer known as Chor Soo Kong, recognised for his supernatural ability to bring rain to the various places he wandered, saving one city from a terrible drought. Legend has it that soon after the temple was erected, pit vipers began to take shelter in its various nooks and crannies.
The temple’s founder, also a Buddhist monk, permitted them to stay. Nowadays, it is believed that the fragrant smells of incense burning around the temple renders the snakes harmless; don’t worry – the freely roaming pit vipers have had their venom removed just in case. Combined with the continually burning incense, the snakes, coiled in corners and around small trees set up within the premises, lend a devotional feel to this unique temple.