📍 178 Waterloo Street, Singapore
This Goddess of Mercy Temple is a spot for people to come and pay respects towards Guan Yin Niang Niang/娘娘, the Mandarin way of pronouncing “Goddess of Mercy”.
Before the steps in the temple, there is a huge incense area will be in the middle for people to put into after paying respects towards the Gods, Sky and the Earth. Incense sticks and fire are provided by the temple.
PS: I also took this picture before noticing the “no pictures allowed” sign… so yeah. Oops.
No pictures allowed inside is to respect the environment. Usually places of worship don’t allow photos (but I got carried away and forgot..) and this place isn’t an exception.
There is a carpet in the middle of the temple, which allows individuals to pray and ask for advice – do take off your shoes and leave them on the side before stepping onto the carpet.
You can do divination here – with a tin of sticks. You talk to Guan Yin 娘娘 and ask for advice, you shake the tin, having one divination stick come out and you get the fortune of that stick from the person at the counter. The fortune paper comes in both Chinese and English. You should also burn the fortune before you leave the temple. There are other methods for asking for advice here — You have to go to the counter on the left or right side to attain these materials and give it back after.
There are also seats and fans near the entrance of the temple. Donations are welcomed and have several spots around the temple as well. There are also security guards here to maintain the peace within the temple as it is an open area. When I went, there was a crazy lady in there shouting random stuff and walking all over the carpet with her shoes on and off (really rude, but hey, she’s crazy..) and the security guards guided her out…
Guan Yin Niang Niang’s temple connects to the roots of Buddhism, and is a nice place to dive into and find inner peace away from the buzzing streets of Singapore. A very cultural spot to see when you’re visiting Singapore.
Those stands with umbrellas sell items that you can gift towards Goddess of Mercy and the temple. Items like more incense sticks and lotus flowers are being sold. You can ask for “good luck charm(s)” in the temple which have been blessed by the Goddess of Mercy, for you to carry on yourself and keep you away from harm 🙂
Before you leave, don’t forget to pick up sweets/candy at the very front of the temple! It’s meant to be a blessing from the temple as well. Bonus points because the sweet is actually super yummy – I always go for the orange flavour, haha
Till next time, ♥
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