Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple

Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple
觀音堂佛祖廟
The exterior of Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple
Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple is located in Singapore
Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple
Location within Singapore
Monastery information
Full nameKwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple
OrderMahayana, Vajrayana
Established1884; 140 years ago (1884)
Site
LocationRochor, Singapore
Public accessyes
Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple in February 2024.
Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple in February 2024.

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]

  1. ^ "Singapore: Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple". Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  2. ^ ""四马路"人文与美食之旅 | 早报". www.zaobao.com.sg (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  3. ^ Mah, 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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.