Singapore Thian Hock Keng Temple also Tianfu Gong Temple Chinese of Heavenly Happiness CPD Raffles Place financial bank centre
Thian Hock Keng Temple also Tianfu Gong Temple Chinese Temple of Heavenly Happiness is the oldest and most important Fukien, or Hoklo Hokkien temple in Singapore. The main temple is dedicated to Matsu, the Taoist goddess of the sea and protector of all seamen, while a second temple at the back is a Buddhist one dedicated to Kuan Yin, the bodhisattva of mercy. After the British established a trading port in Singapore in 1819, early Chinese immigrants started to arrive, crossing the hazardous South China Sea. A “joss house” was built from 1821 to 1822 for them to pray and thank the Goddess for their safe passage. Thian Hock Keng Temple was later built on the site from 1839 to 1842. The renovation cost of $30,000 was covered by donations from devotees, among them Fukien philanthropist Tan Tock Seng. It served as a temple, school and community centre. Grateful immigrants, some of whom became successful businessmen, contributed to the construction. A year after construction began, a statue of Ma Cho Po arrived from China and was installed with great ceremony in the temple's newly completed main prayer hall. No expense was spared to obtain the finest materials and craftsmen from China. Many materials were recycled, however -- the timber, stone columns and tiles were formerly ballast on Chinese junks, and mosaic pieces used on the temple roof to create bird feathers, dragon scales and flower petals were broken pieces of pottery and cutlery from ships. In 1907, the temple received its most precious gift -- a calligraphic panel from the Emperor of China himself, Guang Xu of the Qing Dynasty. Thian Hock Keng Temple was gazetted as a national monument on 6 July 1973.
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Photo credit: © Peter Horree / Alamy / Afripics
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