Moving house for deities

It’s not every day deities have to move house - but for the Singapore Chee Chung Huay, it was necessary.

The Taoist temple has been standing at 364D MacPherson Road since the late 1960s, and with a fresh 30-year lease recently granted by the Singapore Land Authority, plans are under way for the aged building to be torn down and replaced by a larger complex.

This is the temple building that will have to go very soon - such a pity.

Before the rebuilding, the temple’s deities had to move to a temporary tent next to the current building. A ceremony was held this morning, Saturday 20 April (the 12th day of the 3rd Lunar Month).

These were the original altars in the main hall.

A large crowd of temple staff and volunteers turned up for the move. Guided by a master, and supported by a lion dance troupe and band, they went through the necessary rites to shift - one after the other, in order - Da Sheng Fo Zu (大圣佛祖 / The Great Sage and Patriarch, also known as Sun Wukong or the Monkey God), Tai Shang Lao Jun (太上老君 / The First and Greatest Old Lord), Huang Lao Xian Shi (黄老仙师 / Old Yellow Immortal Master), and Ben Tu Shi Shan Shen (本土石山神 / The Local Stone Mountain Deity).

The proceedings began with the “filing” of “documents” - Chinese religion is famously bureaucratic, a legacy of ancient China’s Confucian state bureaucracy. These talismans were then burned in front of each of the deities.

Da Sheng Fo Zu moved first.

The temporary site was right next to the old building, so the procession was mercifully short.

Installing Da Sheng Fo Zu.

Tai Shang Lao Jun was next.

Huang Lao Xian Shi was third.

The temple’s main urn was also carefully carried over. This time, the procession was ordered to walk three rounds around the temple’s secondary urn, which was outside the main hall.

After the deities were installed in their new altars, the band played heartily for them. Accordingly, the skies opened.

A final prayer session was in order.

Offerings laid out for the deities. Everyone was asked to offer five joss sticks - my guess is one stick for each of the four deities, and one more for the Jade Emperor.

The final prayer session.

The culmination of a morning’s hard work!

The deities will need to be moved again - once the new temple building is completed in a couple of years. But for now, they look comfortable there.

Ipoh’s limestone hill temples

During our recent holiday to Ipoh, Malaysia, I was intrigued by the phenomenon of Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist temples next to or inside the limestone hills which surround the city.

We visited these temples:

1. Perak Guanyin Cave

A Buddhist temple in a limestone cave, dedicated to Guan Yin. It is filled with hundreds of Guan Yin and Buddha statues paid for by devotees.

2. Sam Poh Tong (“Three Jewels Cave”) Temple

Another Buddhist temple in a limestone cave. Founded in 1890, it is the oldest cave temple in Ipoh.

A tunnel in the cave leads to an open area with breathtaking views made of steep cliffs, thick forest, and an abandoned temple building which looks like it came straight out of a role-playing game.

3. Guan Yin Dan Ba Xian Tong (Goddess of Mercy and Eight Immortals Cave)

A Taoist temple in a limestone cave. The Eight Immortals and the Fortune Deity (Cai Shen) are painted on the walls of the cave.

Further inside, amidst other deities, there is an altar for deities of the netherworld such as Da Er Ye Bo, next to a stream which I believe springs forth from inside the hill.

4. Kallumalai Arulmigu Subramaniyar Temple

A Hindu temple next to 3, dedicated to Subramaniyar, also known as Murugan. It has an enclosure full of peacocks, Murugan’s vehicle.

5. Kuil Sri Raja Muneeswarar Temple

A Hindu temple tucked away at the end of a long track through a quiet residential area, next to soaring cliffs. Around 150 years old, it is dedicated to Muneeswarar. Nearby, there is a bamboo grove with numerous Hindu deities around it.

Outside the temple, we were very fortunate to meet the owner of the land on which it stands. He introduced himself as Dato Muttiah, the head of a construction firm, and he told us a fascinating backstory about the temple.

The 68-year-old Dato had his first encounter with Muneeswarar when he was 13. Twenty-five years later, he decided to buy the land on which the temple stood. As an act of devotion, he ordered its gopuram rebuilt.

However, Muneeswarar visited him again - and ordered a second gopuram built for the temple! No reason was given. But he listened - and that is why the temple has two gopuram at the front, one in front of the other, which puzzled me when I first cast my eyes on the temple.

The temple is still closed for renovations in and around the complex, but one of his workers graciously let us enter and explore its beautifully-decorated interior. Dato is getting on in years and has multiple health issues, but he is determined to finish God’s work on Earth.

The Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre Tua Pek Kong Shrine

Whenever I visit a hawker centre for the first time to have a meal, I also search for its shrine. For every hawker centre, there is a unique shrine with its own deities, bearing a unique history. The hawker centre shrine is the nexus of the combined faith of a closely-knit community.

This is the shrine for the Cheng San Market & Cooked Food Centre at Block 527 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. In Chinese, it is called 宏茂桥五二七巴刹和联合社大伯公 (Hong Mao Qiao Wu Er Qi Ba Sha He Lian He She Da Bo Gong), literally translated as “Ang Mo Kio 527 Market United Society Tua Pek Kong”.

The shrine has one deity - Tua Pek Kong.

According to the 7th Lunar Month poster next to the shrine, the market and cooked food centre’s 7th Lunar Month festival was on Day 14 (21 August) this year.