SJONG LIM TEMPLE, Sjong Lim Temple

Hi, my name’s Marcy, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the Siong Lim Temple, the largest Buddhist monastery in Singapore.

Also known as the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, the complex was founded in 1898, although building work did not begin until four years later, and was completed in 1907. More recently, it underwent a decade of restoration work, which started in 1991.

The complex is mainly modeled on the Xi Chan Si Temple of Fuzhou, in the Chinese province of Fujian, and it boasts a seven-storey, gilded pagoda that is a replica of the one in the ancient temple of Shanfeng, also in Fujian province.

Before you go in and explore the large monastery, stop for a moment at the main entrance, known as Shan Men, or Mountain Gate, with its magnificent gates over nine meters tall, decorated with images of the guardians of the temple, depicted in bright colors. The bronze knocker of the central door is held in the mouth of a snail-shaped creature, representing one of the nine sons of the Chinese dragon....