Places of Worship & Devotion

Extracts from The New Straits Times... KUCHING: It may not have the grandeur of Batu Caves Temple complex in Selangor, but Mount Matang Sri Mahamariamman Temple complex can lay claim to be the first Hindu temple built in Sarawak. Located at the foothills of Mount Matang, the temple complex is also fascinating as it is made entirely of wood. Although it is only about 45km from here, one needs to spend about 45 minutes hiking up the hill. The temple was originally built by Indian workers who were brought here to work on the coffee plantation run by the state government back in 1867, and later with Rajah Charles Brooke, who took over and switched to tea in 1897. "The Indian workers brought a bronze deity when they arrived here but it was transferred to a temple in Batu Lintang when the tea estate was closed in 1912 due to poor harvest. "The temple was abandoned for 55 years until it was rediscovered by a local villager who was hunting nearby,"said penghul...

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 ...