[4][5][6][7] The temple was founded in 1918 by A. Pemaratana Maha Thera, a Ceylonese monk who made a visit on Penang Island en route to Singapore.

[2] Whilst in George Town, A. Pemaratana resided within the Batu Lanchang Hokkien Cemetery where he gave Dhamma Desana sermons to a handful of devotees.

[2] The devotees, led by M. V. Gregory, a fellow Sinhalese bought a piece of land at Caunter Hall and presented it to the monk to set up the first Sri Lankan-style Buddhist temple in Penang.

[2] A shrine hall was then built with the support of the devotees for Pemaratana to carry out his missionary work along with a school named "Sāriputta" to teach Theravāda Buddhism and the English language.

The tree sapling was then brought from then British Ceylon in the 20th century and planted in the temple compound after Pemaratana's demise in 1927.