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By the sea
A joss house on the waterfront became the Hokkien temple for sea travellers
The temple began around 1821 as a small joss house on the waterfront, where seafarers and immigrants thanked the sea goddess Mazu for a safe passage to Singapore. It originally faced the sea. Land reclamation from the 1880s moved the coast away.
Rebuilt
The temple was rebuilt from 1839 with materials brought from China
Rebuilding began in 1839 with funds collected over the years, the largest gift coming from the Hokkien businessman Tan Tock Seng. A statue of Mazu came from China, and some stone, timber and tiles were recycled from ship ballast. It was finished in 1842.
A thank you
A statue holding up a beam thanks the Indian community that helped build it
The Indian community of Chulia Street also helped build the temple. A statue of a man who appears to be an Indian, holding a beam up at the ceiling, was placed in the right wing as a reminder and gesture for their contribution.
Western touches
A renovation in 1906 added a wrought-iron gate from Glasgow
The building was renovated in 1906, and some western-style features were added, such as a wrought-iron gate from Glasgow and dado tiling. The Guangxu Emperor presented a scroll and plaque to the temple in 1907.
The layout
Three halls cluster around a courtyard in the style found in Fujian
The temple is of traditional Chinese design, with pavilions clustered around the main courtyard and three halls: an entrance hall, a main hall and a rear hall. A renovation from 1998 to 2000 won a UNESCO honourable mention in 2001.
Day 1, afternoon
It comes after Maxwell Food Centre. Then Lau Pa Sat.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Thian Hock Keng Temple, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.