Hello everyone, how are you? I hope you are well. How about your weekend? I hope you enjoy your weekend too. Some time, I visited a temple in Jakarta, namely the Sin Tek Bio temple. This temple is located in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta. I visited the place because I took the Jakarta Good Guide tour.
I often visit the new market. However, I just found out about this place. As usual, this temple is striking in red and very different from other buildings. There is a hanging red lantern on the ceiling of the room. However, this building is a little sad because it is squeezed in the middle of a towering building.
This building is right behind the Bakmi Kelinci store and next to the Bakmi Aboen building. Even so, this temple building is the oldest in the Pasar Baru area. This Temple was built when the Market Area was still a forest. This temple was built in the early 18th. Even so, I am still grateful that the local government of Jakarta has designated this building as historic.
This building, built in 1698, took longer than Pasar Baru. Pasar Baru was built in 1820. Farmers of Chinese ethnicity built this temple. In the past, many ethnic Chinese lived on the banks of the Ciliwung River and were considered a disadvantaged group. As time progressed, buildings became more advanced, making this temple squeezed in the middle of the crowded Pasar Baru.
From the information I got, this building underwent three restorations. However, the restoration did not change its original appearance. The first restoration was carried out in 1957, then in 1969, and finally in 1998. However, in the three restorations, some paintings were lost. Namely, the Hok-Teng Cing-sin painting on the main altar was burned. The news I received was that the burning was due to sensitivity towards Chinese ethnicity in 1982. In the end, the name of this temple was changed to Vihara Dharma Jaya, by government regulations at that time.
Entering the temple, you will find several statues of gods. You will also find candles of various heights. In fact, with a very large size. I had time to write a few things about this pagoda. In this temple, there is a statue of grandparent Djugo usually called Kiayi Zakaria. This figure is related to the Java War that took place during 1825-1830.
In this place, there are 28 god altars which are divided into two parts, on the 1st and 2nd floors. All the god statues in this temple come from the 17th century. Then, the main god in this place is Kongco Hok Teng Ceng Sin who is commonly referred to as the God of the Earth. Apart from the statues of gods and goddesses, there is a character of Embah Raden Suria Kencana Winata.
The following is my story about my visit to this temple, I will tell you about my visit to Pasar Baru, see you in my next story. I hope you enjoy my story. Don't forget to vote and comment. See you.
About Author
Nurdiani Latifah
My name is Nurdiani Latifah. I currently live in Jakarta – Indonesia, after 25 years I live in Bandung. I am a media staff at an NGO in Indonesia. I have worked in this institution for almost 2 years on issues of women and peace. I had been a journalist in Bandung for 3 years.
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