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BUILDINGS & PLACES SINGAPORE BOOK OF RECORDS


Places Of Worship Largest Place Of Worship


Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery on Bright Hill Drive was founded in 1921. It has a land area of about 75,470 sq m, equivalent to about 10.7 football fi elds. Within the complex are examples of classical Chinese architecture, statues, shrines, a large turtle pool and a 4- storey building which has a capacity for storing 300,000 urns.


Oldest Chinese Temple Building


The oldest existing Chinese temple building in Singapore is the Thian Hock Keng Temple in Chinatown. It was built in 1842. The main temple is dedicated to 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.


Earliest Chinese Temples Built


The earliest temple built by the Hakkas, the Yinghe Guan, was completed in 1823. The Cantonese and Hakkas jointly built the Fuk Tak Chi in Telok Ayer in 1824, which is now a heri- tage museum at Far East Square. The earliest Teochew temple is the Wak Hai Cheng Bio, on Phillip Street, constructed in 1826. The earliest Hokkien temple is the Hengshan Ting at Silat Road, which was built in 1828. The earliest Hainanese temple is the Tianhou Temple, built on Beach Road in 1857.


Taoist Temple


First Chinese Temple


Shuntian Gong (Temple of Submission to Heaven), dedicated to the earth deity Dabo- gong, was fi rst built in 1796 according to an inscription inside the temple. The temple was fi rst sited on Malabar Street and is currently, after several moves, located at Geylang Lorong 29.


Singapore’s oldest Taoist temple, Yueh Hai Ching (Wak Hai Cheng Bio) was built in 1826 at Telok Ayer for sail- ors and immigrants to thank the divinities for their safe passage from China. It moved to its present site on Phillip Street in the 1850s and is both a temple and Teochew clan association.


Oldest Buddhist Temple


The 40,000 sq m Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery is more commonly known by its Hokkien name Siong Lim Temple. It was built in 1902 and completed in 1908. It is considered to be the oldest Buddhist temple in Singapore. The main donors to its construction were two Hokkien merchants, Low Kim Pong and Yeo Boon Seng.


Largest Buddha Statue


The Buddha statue in the Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya, on Race Course Road is 15m high and weighs 300 ton. The statue is illumi- nated by coloured electric lights. The temple is also known as the ‘Temple of Thousand Lights’.


Most Expensive Temple Building


The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum in Chinatown is built following the Tang dynasty architectural style. Costing S$62 million, it opened in May 2007. It also houses the world’s largest cloisonne prayer wheel.


Oldest Most Crowded Temple


The Kuan Yin Thong Hood Cho, situated on Waterloo Street, was built in 1884. This popular Taoist temple is dedicated to Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. The temple attracts large numbers of worshippers, many of them from other Asian countries.


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