If you opinion at the entering of the Thian Hock Keng Temple and expression outward, it's hard to be certain of that this sanctuary was once by the deep.
In anterior of the sanctuary today is the city's professional hub. Exceptional Singapore real manor. And the tall multistory building that aspect down on the temple is essentially upright on reclaimed land!
But then again more than 100 years ago, the Thian Hock Keng Temple was a beach-front temple.
It was the paramount stop for indebted Chinese immigrants who have persisted the difficult voyage from Southern China. Here, they burned joss-sticks and gave thanks to Ma Zu (妈祖), the goddess of the sea.
The Thian Hock Keng Temple started unpretentiously in 1821 as a wooden joss house. But it was incalculably important to the prompt Chinese unrestricted. Thus began a colossal fund raising venture to reconstitute it in the 1830s.
The resident Chinese unrestricted gave munificently to build this temple. Superior wood and brickwork were trade in from China for it manufacture. Some of the best craftsmen from Southern China were also conscripted to work on the sanctuary. The end result? A stunning temple with intricate bas-reliefs, a fine example of out-of-date Southern Chinese planning.
In 1998, when the shrine was being restored, builders found a manuscript stowed away in one of the ridge beams. It was transcribed by no less than the Qing royal leader Guang Xu, who pronounced his permissions on the Chinese community here. Conceive this. Even the Chinese emperor has left his colophon on this temple!
Take the ensuing photo tour of the temple. It'll make your stopover there more evocative.
