[Guest post by Peggy Wong in Kuching, Malaysia] The historical precinct of Kuching city is lined with ornate Chinese temples. They initially started out as basic structures that acted as clan houses for ancestral worship and other facilities for Chinese migrants. Most of them were erected by migrants from the same province back in China. Most of these temples have a stage built directly across the road where operas were performed during temple festivals to appease the deities. Today, the original structures for the temples had been replaced with a newer and grander version on the same site.
GUAN THIAN SIANG TI TEMPLE (above)
This temple was completed in 1889, by Chinese migrants, predominantly from the GuangDong Province of China. In the early days, migrants from the same or neighbouring hometown, clustered together to form support groups as clan houses. Annual processions are organised for the temple deities on the 4th day of the 12th month on the lunar calendar. Currently, the area in front of the stage is also occupied by hawker stalls serving local delicacies; the locals refer to this place as Lau Ya Geng.
HONG SAN SI TEMPLE
The Hokkien community built this temple in 1895. According to a local legend, during the Great Kuching Fire of 1884, locals saw a vision of a child deity waving a black flag to put out the fire. In commemoration of this event, an annual grand procession is held on the 22nd day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar. Locals refer to this temple also as Kueh Seng Onn Temple.
HONG SAN SI TEMPLE
The Hokkien community built this temple in 1895. According to a local legend, during the Great Kuching Fire of 1884, locals saw a vision of a child deity waving a black flag to put out the fire. In commemoration of this event, an annual grand procession is held on the 22nd day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar. Locals refer to this temple also as Kueh Seng Onn Temple.
TUA PEK KONG TEMPLE
Believed to be built by Chinese migrants from Kalimantan, southern part of Borneo, this temple is possibly the oldest temple in Kuching. In his early records of 1893, Frank Marryat, a guest of James Brooke, the first White Rajah of Sarawak mentioned a similar Chinese temple already existing at this said location. In the olden days, it used to overlook the mouth of the Kuching stream that flows to the Sarawak River.
