Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple (Chinese: 觀音堂佛祖廟; pinyin: Guānyīn Táng Fózǔ Miào) is a traditional Chinese temple situated at 178 Waterloo Street in Singapore. The temple is of significance to the Buddhist community among Chinese Singaporeans, and is believed to bring worshippers good luck after praying to the Kuan Yin or Avalokiteśvara, the Goddess of Mercy. The temple is also involved in charity work, contributing to several health and educational organisations.[1][2]
The Kwan Im Temple and the nearby Sri Krishnan Temple are known for having evolved a social practice termed "cross-worshipping", where many devotees of either temple also worship at the other. This practice is commonly seen as a microcosm of Singapore's multi-religious society.[3][4][5]
History and architecture
According to inscriptions at the temple, the temple started in 1884 when a company, Chen Liang Cheng (陈两成), donated a parcel of land to build a temple.[2]
In 1895, the temple was renovated and in 1980, it went through a major expansion and renovation.[2] The 1980 expansion costs $5 million dollars and when completed, the temple stands on an area of 1500 square meters, almost double the size of the original temple.[2]
In the traditional folk religious landscape, a practice of "cross-worshipping" has developed between devotees of the Sri Krishnan Temple and the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, where many devotees of either temple also worship or pay their respects at the other temple.[3] Both temples are of polytheistic religious nature: Hinduism and the Chinese traditional religion, and this practice is commonly seen as a microcosm of Singapore's multi-religious society. In the late 1980s, a seller of Hainanese chicken rice donated a large urn, worth approximately S$1,000, to the Sri Krishnan Temple, to hold the joss sticks of Chinese worshippers. The Sri Krishnan Temple administration has added a statue of Guanyin inside their temple and designated a zone within the temple compound for Chinese worshippers to burn joss sticks.[6][7]
^ abMah, James (5 December 2019). "Sri Krishnan Temple: Doing and Making Sense of a Shared Multi-sensorial, Multi-religious Space in Singapore". The Jugaad Project. Retrieved 24 November 2020. "Same, same lah!" an elderly Chinese lady remarked in Mandarin after I asked why she would pray at both the Sri Krishnan Temple and the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple along Waterloo Street. Her comment disarmed me because it offered such a succinct explanation for the much vaunted religious diversity of the place. In one fell swoop, the lady married two religious realms, which would typically have been construed by outsiders as separate and distinct.
^"In historic Kampong Bencoolen, a thriving league of faiths". TODAYonline. Retrieved 24 November 2020. A walk along the historic Kampong Bencoolen area is a journey across faiths, living proof of Singapore's multiracial, multi-cultural, multi-religious society.
^Wee, Cheryl Faith (15 August 2014). "Religious melting pot in Waterloo St". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020. "The area in Waterloo Street epitomises the multi-religious aspect of Singapore," said local urban historian Lai Chee Kien.
^Wee, Cheryl Faith (15 August 2014). "Religious melting pot in Waterloo St". The Straits Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020. But devotees of one temple spill over to the other; the area overflows with fortune tellers, sellers of fresh chrysanthemum and lotus flowers, and cheerful refrains of "Miss, do you want to buy flowers?"
^"Sri Krishnan Temple | Singapore Attractions". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 24 November 2020. Pragmatic worshippers from the neighbouring Buddhist Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple also burn joss sticks here for extra insurance.
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