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Very popular Buddhist temple in honor of Guanyin (also Kuan
Yin), the Goddess of Mercy.
Guanyin is the Chinese adaptation of the male Bodhisattvas
Avalokiteshvara from the twenty-fifth chapter of the Lotos Sutra, considered
the highest of Buddhist teachings. According to translations of the
Lotos Sutra, in China too, Guanyin was first depicted as a man. The
depiction as a female deity, widely spread since the ninth/tenth century,
resulted from the original character of the Lotos Sutra mixing with
other religious ideas and having female attributes increasingly ascribed
to it.
The Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Tempel exists at this location
since 1884. A first addition to its structure was made in 1895. The
building achieved its present-day size during the course of renovations
completed in 1983. In 2001 the temple was officially granted the status
of an historic landmark.
Today all the deities are arranged on a central altar.
Elevated and positioned directly behind the figure of Guanyin stands
that of the Sakyamuni Buddha, the first, eternal Buddha, born 2,500
years ago as the son of the Sakya prince Suddodhana.
Since 1997 the community of the Kwan Im Thong Hood
Cho Tempel has expanded its charity-work activities to the health and
education system.
Address:
178 Waterloo Street
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