Siong Lim Temple 3.35

Siong Lim Temple, also known as Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, is a Buddhist monastery located in Toa Payoh, Singapore. The temple was founded in 1898, but the construction of the premises only began in 1902 by Low Kim Pong and was completed in 1907. The monastery was gazetted as a national monument in 1980 and subsequently underwent a decade-long restoration that began in 1991. The temple now boasts a seven storey gold-topped pagoda which is a replica of the 800-year-old Shanfeng temple pagoda in Fujian.EtymologySiong Lim Temple is the common Hokkien or Fukien name of the (Lian Shan) Shuang Lin Monastery, pinyin: (Lián Shān) Shuāng Lín sì)(ethnic group)|Hoklopinyin]] (Hokkien) merchant and devout Buddhist.When Low Kim Pong was sixty, he had a dream where he saw a golden light rising from the west over the sea (the west being symbolic of Buddhism which originated in India, and is west of China). He took the dream to be an omen, and went to the coast the next day. At dusk, he met an unusual Hokkien family arriving by boat.The entire family had taken Buddhist vows and were on their way home to Fujian after a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka. Low, moved by their devotion, tried to persuade them to stay in Singapore and spread the faith. He promised to build a temple for their use. The head of that family, Xian Hui, eventually became Siong Lim's first abbot.The funds used for its construction were raised by Low Kim Pong and Yeo Poon Seng, one of the saw mill pioneers during the period. In 1950s, the temple area was reduced to about 20,000 m² when part of the land was acquired by the Singapore Improvement Trust for public housing. Today, the temple still stands as a landmark amongst residential HDB flats.