Week 7: Chinese Buddhist Temple Visit (Team 2 Presentation)

By: Sujatha Meegama |

You have the choice of visiting a temple on the National Heritage Board’s list or a neighborhood temple that your family has visited since you were a child.

OR

You could visit the museum at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and the Asian Civilizations Museum to think about how religious objects are presented in museums (if you decide to do this, then please email me for further instructions).

Below are some guidelines for your temple visit; you do not need to answer all the questions. Remember that you need to make the presentation hold together with an idea, point, or claim.

*Who is the primary Buddha or Bodhisattva at your temple?*Who are the rest of the Buddhist figures at your temple?*How are they arranged? Are they all Buddhist? If not, who are they and why are they there?

*Where is your temple? What is the neighborhood? Was it always there in the same neighborhood? What is the history of your temple?

*Is it a family temple or a public temple or both? Who are the patrons? How was it built? When?  Was it always a Buddhist temple?

*Who goes there now? And, why? What do they do?What are the festivals celebrated at this temple?

*What types of sources are available for your temple? Are there scholarly books or articles on your temple? Is there a web site for this temple?Can you speak to the priests, caretakers, and/or devotees to do oral history interviews?

*Apart from the NHB, check out the National Library’s Singaporeinfomedia as a source and to find more sources.

Chong Tuck Tong Temple, Geylang, Singapore
Chong Tuck Tong Temple, Geylang, Singapore

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