Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery

location

184 Jalan Toa Payoh
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Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, also known as Siong Lim Temple, is the oldest Buddhist monastery in Singapore, completed in 1909. The name means "Twin Groves of the Lotus Mountain" in Mandarin and refers to the belief that Buddha achieved nirvana while sitting within a sala tree grove. The Hall of Celestial Kings and Mahavira Hall were gazetted as a National Monument in 1980.

The monastery was founded in 1898 by community leader Low Kim Pong and twelve Buddhist monks and nuns from China. Its layout, modelled after the Xi Chan Monastery in Fuzhou, adopts the cong lin approach, facilitating monastic routines and religious rituals. Today, Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery continues to be a focal point for devotees from Toa Payoh and beyond, providing monastic training and education. Additionally, the monastery compound houses Shuang Lin Cheng Huang Temple, a Taoist temple managed by the Buddhist monks of the monastery.