Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum
新加坡佛牙寺龙华院
Night shot of The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple from South Bridge Road
Established 2002[1]
Location 288, South Bridge Road. Singapore 058840
Public transit access Chinatown MRT Station, Tanjong Pagar MRT Station
Website Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum is a Buddhist temple and museum complex located in the Chinatown district of Singapore.

Overview

"The temple is based on the Tang dynasty architectural style and built to house the tooth relic of the historical Buddha. The ground breaking ceremony was conducted on 13 March 2005. Costing S$62 million and 2 years later, a soft launch was held to coincide with the 2007 Vesak Day celebration."[2] It is claimed that the relic of Buddha from which it gains its name was found in 1980 in a collapsed stupa in Myanmar.[3] The relic can be viewed by the public at the 4th floor of the temple.

Since opening, the temple has become a popular attraction within Chinatown. Simple vegetarian fare is served in the basement of the temple, though donations are accepted.

History

Ven. Shi Fa Zhao, the current president and abbot of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, was approached by STB in 1998 to develop a proposal for a temple on the vacant site. Besides stipulating the building design to be ‘traditional’, it is also requested that the temple contains facilities and hold events for both locals and tourists.

The temple went through a total of nine proposals before the design was finalised. The abbot rejected a design that was too ‘contemporary’, therefore, deemed out of place in the Chinatown landscape. He also rejected a design with Southern Chinese typology, which is the style adopted by temples with a long history in Chinatown. As such, a temple with Southern China architecture would have been an authentic reflection of the migrant history of Singapore. Instead, the final design of the building has Northern Chinese style with arts from Tang Dynasty.

Shi Fa Zhao is also the founder of the Metta Welfare Association,[4] a non-profit voluntary welfare organisation (VWO) that provides special education, welfare services, community and medical care to the intellectually disabled, elderly and terminally ill in society.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Buddha Tooth Relic Temple". myonlinetour.com.
  2. ↑ "Soft launch of the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum, Singapore". Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  3. ↑ "Origin of BTRTM". Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2011-01-05.
  4. ↑ https://www.metta.org.sg Metta Welfare Association


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