Friday, June 01, 2007
On vesak day, my family and I went to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple And Mesuem at chinatown.The temple becomes a showcase of our multi-racial and multi-region culture in singapore. It will become a landmark that will draw both singaporeans and tourists alike from all over the world to the chinatown neighbourhood and liven up. The building was conceptualised and designed by Venerable Shi Fa Zha, aided by a team of local and overseas consultants. A number of draft desighs were developed incorporating the best of Tang Dynasty and the Buddhist mandala. There were four storey altogether.
The first storey shows the hundred Dragons Hall on the first floor of the temple is designed according to the Buddist temple of the Tang Dynasty.It is solemn and dignified with the hundred Buddhas on the both sides of the hall.The second Storey is called the Tripitaka Chamber And Exhibition Hall. Enriching religious art exhibitions featuring calligraphy, paintings, and sculptures will be held there regularly. The Dharma hall shows the compassionate Bodhisatta Avalokitesvara sitting in the middle of the hall.There were still alot of hall and museum like the Eminent Sangha Wax museum which shows the wax figurines of the local and foreign monks of eminence.the Ancestral hall shows the Bodhisatta ksitigarbha surround a number of ancestral tables.The Lotus heart Tea House is for the visitors and devotees to savour refreshing tea or enjoy delicious and healthy vegetarian food in the cosy environment.
The third storey is the Buddhist culture museum shows the impressive collections of the Buddhist artefacts and also tells the events in life of a Buddha. The fourth storey is the Scared Buddha tooth relic Chamber which only the Sangha could access to the inner chamber to conduct the daily services. Public could only observe the daily services from the public viewing area. When you entered the Ten Thousand Buddhas pavilion at the roof of the temple, You would be surrounded by sea of fragrant orchids where 10000 Buddhas are enshrined and worshiped.
I believed that the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple And Museum would attract many people around the world to come to Singapore to take a look at the temple at Chinatown. it would attracted both the locals and visitors who are keen to explore the rich history of the Buddhism and Buddhist culture an enriching experience.
--Mary HAD a little lamb--
8:44 PM
