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Opera Stage across from the Holy Guanyin Temple (觀音聖廟) (ศาลเจ้าอาเนี้ย)

From the Ground Up: Buddhism & East Asian Religions (FROGBEAR Project)

The Holy Guanyin Temple (觀音聖廟) (A Nia Keng Shrine ศาลเจ้า อาเบี้ย) is a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. It is unknown when this temple was constructed, but the last renovations took place in 1992. The temple was constructed with the wood from boats coming from China, and Chinese craftsmen were brought over to construct it without nails and screws - everything was carved to fit into place. It was originally a place for sailors to come and stay temporarily, and they slept on the floor of the temple. Before the 1992 renovations, there were originally two levels of the temple, but since the temple has experienced various bouts of water damage incurred from flooding, it now is just sequestered to the top level. According to the temple caretaker, the neighborhood has experienced quite a lot of fires, and the temple itself has suffered from fires, but since they have instructed templegoers to pray outward "for the community," rather than pray "facing towards the deity," the temple has not experienced a single fire. The temple caretaker noted this temple is particularly special, because it is one of two temples in the Bangkok area which features the main deity as Guanyin (觀音) sitting on a lotus. The temple is managed by a committee of five different families who are owners of different shops in the area; the membership of the committee is hereditary, and this hereditary membership was supposedly established during the reign of King Rama III (1788-1851). While many different types of Chinese people frequent the temple, the temple caretaker noted that Teochew Chinese (Deung Nang 唐人) (ชาวเถิง) and Hakka Chinese (客家) (ฮักกา) people are the most prevalent. The following images show the stage across from Holy Guanyin Temple intended for Guanyin (觀音) to be able to watch periodic performances throughout the year (Image 01). These performances usually celebrate Guanyin's birthday, but sometimes if templegoers succeeded in their prayers they would come back to the temple and give the gift of opera shows or film screenings for one or more nights. Image 02 shows the inscription above the covered stage, reading from right to left 三聘娘宮社, referring to the name of the temple society connected to the temple. Painted depictions of peacocks and flowers are seen above the inscription. The inscription on the left refers to the time of renovation of the old theater stage, in the 51st year of the 60 year cycle (乙卯), which could refer to 1914 or 1974. The inscription on the right refers to the date when the new society (新社) of the temple was established. Image 03 and Image 04 shows the contents below the stage, which belong to a restaurant. The characters above the door warn you to watch your head when entering, but likely relate to the modern business that is being run under the temple stage rather than the stage itself. The inscription right of the door reads, 慈光普照 "the light of mercy shines omnisciently." Metadata created and compiled by: Kira Johansen

Bangkok (Thailand); 13.74042; 100.5064

chi; tha; eng

Cluster 3.4: Typologies of Text-Image Relations

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0441347

Non UBC

Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate

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