What's This Place About?
A stone’s throw away from the Sun Yat Sen’s Memorial hall lies the Maha Sasana Ramsi Burmese Buddhist temple. It was founded by a Burmese, named U Thar Hnin, also known as Tang Sooay Chin in 1875. He wanted to spread Theravada Buddhism in Singapore. Hence, founding this temple. In 1878, he donated the temple to U Kyaw Gaung, a Burmese traditional physician. The latter wanted to have a sizable marble Buddha statue as seen in Myanmar and have it in this Singapore temple too. Hence, he later found a gigantic marble weighing more than 10 tons from Sagyin Hill in Myanmar to craft the Buddha image. This contributes to the uniqueness of the temple such that it houses the largest pure white marble statue of the Buddha outside of Myanmar. This statue measures measuring 3 metres (eleven feet) in height. After visiting the temple, your eyes will be dazed by all the gold and splendour.
The temple also has an intricate Burmese architectural style with teak wood carvings that were donated by the Tripitaka Nikaya Main Ministrative Body (Ti Ni) of Myanmar. It also houses a spacious shrine hall, a meditation hall, a multi-purpose hall, a library and living quarters for the monks.
The temple also has an intricate Burmese architectural style with teak wood carvings that were donated by the Tripitaka Nikaya Main Ministrative Body (Ti Ni) of Myanmar. It also houses a spacious shrine hall, a meditation hall, a multi-purpose hall, a library and living quarters for the monks.
What's Interesting?
Prior to reaching this temple, you will realise that the streets and roads names around this area in Balestier are Greek to you. However, you will realise that the names weren’t of Greek origin, but that of Burmese. Many of the connecting streets off Balestier Road have names of cities and places in Myanmar. Some examples are Mandalay (a royal capital from 1860),
Prior to reaching this temple, you will realise that the streets and roads names around this area in Balestier are Greek to you. However, you will realise that the names weren’t of Greek origin, but that of Burmese. Many of the connecting streets off Balestier Road have names of cities and places in Myanmar. Some examples are Mandalay (a royal capital from 1860),
Irrawaddy (a main river running from north to south of Myanmar), Shan (ethnic minority and state in Myanmar), Moulmein (an old commercial town and port) and Martaban, Pegu (Now Bago), Bhamo, Prome (cities).
Author's Thoughts
Upon stepping foot into this temple, I realised that there were many Burmese around. There were also some Chinese who came to pray but there were definitely more Burmese than Chinese. From researching, this area has got a sizeable amount of Burmese community such that Burmese residents would often gather here. This reminds me of places such as Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Geylang Serai and Little India that have cultures for the different races. Burmese people can be considered a different race that exists as a minority in Singapore. Hence, in this area of Balestier, we may consider it as a cultural place for the Burmese.
Upon stepping foot into this temple, I realised that there were many Burmese around. There were also some Chinese who came to pray but there were definitely more Burmese than Chinese. From researching, this area has got a sizeable amount of Burmese community such that Burmese residents would often gather here. This reminds me of places such as Chinatown, Kampong Glam, Geylang Serai and Little India that have cultures for the different races. Burmese people can be considered a different race that exists as a minority in Singapore. Hence, in this area of Balestier, we may consider it as a cultural place for the Burmese.
