The Sri Kunj Bihari Mandir, also known as Krishna Temple as well as Thakorwadi, is the first (and probably only) Northern Indian temple in Penang. It was built in 1835 after receiving an endowment from the Hindus from Bihar in North India in 1833. At that time, the area around the temple was a settlement for the North Indian community comprising the Punjabis, Gujaratis, Sindhis, Bengalis and Uttar Pradeshi Bhaiyas.
According to historical records, Sir George Leith, the Lieutenant Governor of Prince of Wales island, granted a piece of land to one Chay Ismail in 1803. From there many years were to pass before a temple was built. It was to be one of the two main Vaishnavite temples in Penang, dedicated for the worship of Vishnu as the supreme deity - the other Vaishnavite temple is the Sri Rama Temple at Solok York. Priests for the temple had to be imported from India.
While the lineage of priests serving the temple going back to its founding years have been lost to time, oral testimony has allowed the temple authorities to trace its roots back to the early 1900's. One of the earliest known priests of the Sri Kunj Bihari Mandir was Pandit. Sri Charan Bhatacharjee, born in 1866 and arrived in Penang in 1904.
The Sri Kunj Bihari continued to serve as the religious centre for Hindus from various ethnic backgrounds. Sri Bahari Road nearby is said to take its name from this temple.
Frontage of the Sri Kunj Bihari Temple, Penang Road, Penang
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