Siong Lim Temple
| （莲山）双林寺 | |
Siong Lim Temple
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 Location within Singapore
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| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Siong Lim Temple |
| Other names | Shuang Lin Monastery |
| Order | Mahayana |
| Established | 1898 |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Low Kim Pong |
| Abbot | Wai Yim |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | National Monument of Singapore |
| Designated date | 17 October 1980 |
| Style | Fujian |
| Groundbreaking | 1902 |
| Completion date | 1907 |
| Construction cost | $500,000 |
| Site | |
| Location | Toa Payoh, Singapore |
| Coordinates | 1°19′49″N 103°51′27″E / 1.33028°N 103.85750°ECoordinates: 1°19′49″N 103°51′27″E / 1.33028°N 103.85750°E |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | www |
Siong Lim Temple, also known as Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery (Chinese: 莲山双林寺), is a Buddhist monastery located in Toa Payoh, Singapore. The temple was founded in 1898, but the construction of the premises only began in 1902 by Low Kim Pong and was completed in 1907. The monastery was gazetted as a national monument in 1980 and subsequently underwent a decade-long restoration that began in 1991. The temple now boasts a seven storey gold-topped pagoda which is a replica of the 800-year-old Shanfeng temple pagoda in Fujian.
Siong Lim Temple is the common Hokkien or Fukien name of the (Lian Shan) Shuang Lin Monastery (Chinese: (莲山)双林寺; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Liân-san-siang-lîm-sī), pinyin: (Lián Shān) Shuāng Lín sì), which literally means "Twin Grove of the Lotus Mountain Temple". The name of the monastery refers to the twin groves of sala trees located at the Bodhgaya in India, where Buddha was believed to have attained enlightenment. It is also commonly referred to as Siong Lim Temple or, in the past, Low Kim Pong’s Temple after its founder.
The Buddhist temple was built on a 40,000 square metres site owned by Low Kim Pong, a wealthy Chinese Hoklo (Hokkien) merchant and devout Buddhist.
When Low Kim Pong was sixty, he had a dream where he saw a golden light rising from the west over the sea (the west being symbolic of Buddhism which originated in India, and is west of China). He took the dream to be an omen, and went to the coast the next day. At dusk, he met an unusual Hokkien family arriving by boat.
The entire family had taken Buddhist vows and were on their way home to Fujian after a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka. Low, moved by their devotion, tried to persuade them to stay in Singapore and spread the faith. He promised to build a temple for their use. The head of that family, Xian Hui, eventually became Siong Lim's first abbot.
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Wikipedia