The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

In typical Singapore fashion, in Chinatown there are both Hindu and Buddhist temples within a block of each other. Both are spectacularly beautiful.

Mike Walach & I toured Chinatown during his visit and stopped to look inside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. It's a remarkable place to visit. The temple gets its name because on the 4th floor of the building is a 2 meter high stupa made of pure gold. Inside that chamber is a tooth relic of Buddha. According to Buddhist texts, Buddha left behind four wisdom teeth and 40 tooth relics for the succeeding generations. This rare relic makes this temple particularly important to the local Chinese (and other ethic groups') Buddhists.

Mike and I weren't there during one of the viewing times, so I cannot give a first-hand report about the relic. However, as the pictures detail, the first floor of the temple is beautifully decorated. It's an active temple so one has to be careful about not disturbing those who are praying. You can see the niches in the large picture and a couple of close-ups of the smaller Buddhas that fill the wall.

The temple is a fairly recent addition to Chinatown. It was completed only two years ago and is modeled after the architecture of the Tang Dynasty.