Temple Tour: Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery

Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery is an architecture masterpiece of the 19th century. It represents a unique spectacle of Singapore history. It is considered as the oldest Buddhist monastery in Singapore which is the only one declared as National Monument. Built in accordance to the traditional Chinese courtyard layout, and it has a blend of architectural styles from Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Fujian provinces. It went through about 11 years of restoration work since 1991.
The area of this monastery is quite huge, it took me about 2 hours to discover it thoroughly, probably because I was taking pictures and videos eagerly...

How to get there:
I generally start my journey from the Dragon-Light Pagoda as that is accessible easily on foot from my place.  But if you are not familiar with the area I would suggest you to enter at the another side, at the Cheng Heng Miao. Walk from Toa Payoh Swimming Complex towards Safra and take a right turn while following the sign board of/to the monastery. 
(Address: 184, Jalan Toa Payoh, Singapore 319944, website)

Map of the Monastery

For those who have visited to Chi Lin Nunnery, in Hong Kong, the ambience of this place will be quite familiar, not only the system how the halls are situated but the surrounding garden with bonsai trees. For me the very big difference between the two places that while in Hong Kong you have to follow strict rules during your walk, being observed by grumpy guards, here you will enjoy the serenity of the place without any disturbance. 
I was lucky to meet a lovely  elder Chinese lady there, who tried to explain me the meaning of the different Buddha statues, and the decorations on the temple wall. 

Entrance from Cheng Huang Miao side:

Cheng Huang Miao

Offerings to the Gods

Temple inside:

That golden "pyramid" built by small Buddha statues.
Devotees pay some money for a "space" and their personal Buddhas will be placed there for a time of period.

Don't forget to roll the ball in the lion's mouth, they say if you are able to do it, will bring you luck! 

Feature Gate

Walk through the Feature Gate to discover the other parts of the Monastery.

At the right side of the Feature Gate the Main Entrance can be found facing to a Half Moon Pond. By walking inside you can see the two Sutra Pillars and the Dragon Light Pagoda in the background. The another side you will find the Hall of Celestial Kings(Tian Wang Dian). 

Hall of Celestial Kings,Skanda Boddhisathva facing the Mahavihara Hall. 

Behind the Hall of Celestial Kings the Mahavihara Hall (Da Xiong Bao Dian) can be found. This is my favorite hall of the Monastery, it's so beautiful! Taking photos not allowed here, but without disturbing anyone I think it is fine. There are three Buddha statues seated inside, Sakyamuni Buddha in the middle, on his left the "Medicine Buddha" and Amitabha Buddha on his right side, accompanied with the two great disciples of Sakyamuni Buddha. On this picture below only Ananda, the younger venerable is visible.  

Enjoy the beautiful environment among bonsai trees and flowers:

Guan Yin Dian and Dragon-Light Pagoda:

My post doesn't cover all areas of this Monastery, visitors will find much more things to see and learn there. Just read the description boards at each halls to get to know more about this awesome place of worship. Try to catch some daily prayer/event in the Guan Yin Dian. The annual Vesak festival is a very good occasion to visit the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery which will be held on 1 June 2015.

Here is a short video of "Sakyamuni's Day of Enlightment" from 27 January 2015:

 For more pictures please visit to my flickr site.

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