Cheng Hoon Teng temple marks 350th anniversary milestone with heritage showcase
The nation’s oldest functioning place of worship, the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple in Jalan Tokong in Bandar Melaka is celebrating its 350th anniversary by showcasing its proud heritage. Thousands of devotees are expected to gather at the temple during the five-day celebration which started on Oct 18.
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Transcript
00:00 [Chanting]
00:08 The Cheng Hun Teng Temple in Malacca is celebrating its 350th anniversary
00:13 by showcasing its proud heritage.
00:16 The temple management searched archive records of the temple
00:19 to organise this year's celebration in a bid to preserve its historical significance.
00:25 They hope that the five-day celebration which started on Wednesday
00:28 will connect the current generation to their ancestral roots.
00:32 So far, some 500 overseas devotees had visited the temple
00:36 and many of them took the opportunity to participate in the event
00:39 in search of ancestral roots.
00:42 The temple conducted similar events between 1849 and 1933.
00:47 After the last event 90 years ago, the temple brought their tradition back
00:52 including the offering of traditional items to the deities.
00:55 This year, we try to bring back all the very traditional offerings
01:00 and the rituals, everything, to celebrate this 350 years of Cheng Hun Teng.
01:07 We're having a few types of very traditional Chinese arts
01:12 where it comes from like paper cutting.
01:15 Second is paper puppet, where also very traditional we created in Malacca.
01:21 And then we also have the food where we arrange to become some motifs or flowers
01:28 where we gather 120 devotees to make it together.
01:33 The temple boasts unique and traditional Chinese architecture
01:37 and was a centre of religious and social activities over the centuries.
01:42 The temple was awarded by UNESCO for outstanding architectural restoration in 2003.
01:48 At first, this temple was a place to gather all the Chinese
01:54 where they have all the weddings, the cremations, everything.
01:59 They have it in this temple.
02:01 And other than the religious centre, it is also something like a courtroom
02:08 for the Chinese communities.
02:10 They can settle their problems here, their quarrels here, their misunderstandings.
02:13 They can all settle here.
02:15 During the building of this temple, all the building materials were from China.
02:19 Even the artisans and the builders, they were employed from China.
02:23 The unique thing about this temple is this temple was using the technique of tenon and mortise.
02:29 In Malay, it's called tanggam, not using any nail at all.
02:32 Until today, Cheng Hun Teng temple is still regarded as the oldest
02:37 and finest of Chinese temples in Malaysia.
02:41 The temple is a century for history buffs seeking information on the early Chinese settlers
02:46 and its structure is a living testament to the city's colourful past.
02:51 (Chinese music)
02:55 (music ends)
02:57 (no audio)
03:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]