Places of Worship & Devotion

Extracts from The Borneo Post... "Sri Maha Mariamman Temple – The Lost Temple of Matang THE Sri Maha Mariamman (goddess of Mercy) temple, 1000 feet up the slope of the Matang mountain in the Kuching district was ‘lost’ for more than 50 years before it was discovered accidentally by a hunter back in the mid 1960s. It was said the hunter Abi bin Bengggali, stumbled upon an abandoned building on the slope of the mountain while searching for game. Intrigued, he explored the interior of the sturdy building made of belian which despite the ravage of time was still largely intact. Inside, he discovered relics of what was clearly a Hindu temple and taking fancy of a carved wooden elephant, he took it home. It proved to be a traumatic mistake for that night his house shook violently and in his sleep Abi dreamt that he must return the statue to the temple. Needless to say the hunter lost no time returning the statue to the temple and his strange adventure became the talk of ...

One of the many traditional Chinese temples in Batu Kawa, Kuching

Woon Hua Kung, one of the many small traditional Chinese temples in the Batu Kawa area. There are many such temples in this area, mostly built in the early Chinese settlement time, nearby to the Sarawak river tributaries, as river was the most economical & convenient means of transport during that time. In the Batu Kawa area along, there were around 10 such early settlements in these Sarawak river tributaries.

One of very few meditation centers in Sarawak

The Debak Lung San Temple was said to be initiated before 1930, the earlier temple was a simple hut about 2 kilometers from the current location. The history of this small town, Debak, is more than 130 years. Earlier on Lord Tua Pek Kong was the only host deity; Xuan Tian Shang Ti (玄天上帝) was later hosted in by devotees’ request. Guan Gong (關公) joined in recently, forming the current 3 main host deities in this temple. Earlier, it was said that Guan Gong or similar character was seen many times near the temple doorstep. It was later learnt that Lord Guan Gong wanted to be hosted in this temple; that was the legend how Guan Gong became the host deity of Lung San Temple in Debak.

Tua Pek Kong, Lundu is situated not far from Gunung Gading National Park, the home to numerous rare plants including the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia.

The 'Rain Tree' & Na Tuk Kong in front of Eng Ann Teng, Sibu Commemorative Plaque of the 'Rain Tree' Extracts from the Commemorative Plaque... "This splendid tree, locally known as ‘Kayu Hujan’ or ‘Rain Tree’ (Samanea-Saman) has been confirmed by the expert from the Sarawak Forestry Department that it is estimated to be more than 100 years old. It is believed that it was planted by one of the early unknown settlers from China, presumably he was one of the earliest ‘Beca’ (trishaw) operator in Sibu town. Finding himself unable to withstand the hot tropical sun, he planted this fast growing luxuriant tree, hoping it would give him a cool shade and thus, creating a strategic & focal point for him to continue his livelihood as ‘Beca’ operator to ferry nearby women-folk to worship at the nearby Tua Pek Kong Temple. The tree had also borne some interesting legend as pointed out by one local historian.” Eng Ann Teng, Sibu ...