Heavenly Queen Temple (Melbourne)
| Heavenly Queen Temple | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Taoism |
| Deity | Mazu |
| Location | |
| Geographic coordinates | 37°47′55″S 144°54′51″E / 37.7987°S 144.9142°E |
| Heavenly Queen Temple | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 天后宮 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Heavenly Queen Palace | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Heavenly Queen Temple[1][2] is a Taoist temple dedicated to Mazu or Tian Shang Sheng Mu (天上聖母), Chinese Goddess of Sea and patron deity of fishermen, sailors and any occupations related to the sea or ocean. She is also regarded as an ancestral deity of the Lim (林) Clan.
The temple is located in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, approximately four kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, and overlooks the Maribyrnong River. It is Australia's largest Taoist temple and includes a 50-foot (15 m) gold-painted stainless steel statue of Mazu imported from Nanjing, China, installed in 2008. The statue was the second of its kind in Australia.[3]
The temple complex is based on the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the main temple opened in 2012.[4] The temple's first stage was completed in 2013 at the cost of $5 million after 5 years of construction.[5] The main hall opened to the public in 2015, but construction of the temple complex continued until 2020 with two additional halls completed.[6]
When finished, the temple complex will cover approximately 40,000 square meters. About two-thirds of the land will comprise a Chinese Garden and car park, and the total floor area of the buildings will cover approximately 5000 square meters.[7]
See also
- A-Ma Temple, Macau
- Ma-Cho Temple, Philippines
- List of Mazu temples around the world
- Qianliyan & Shunfeng'er
- Tin Hau temples in Hong Kong
References
- ^ "Welcome to the Heavenly Queen Temple", Former official site, Melbourne: Heavenly Queen Temple, 2009, archived from the original on 8 February 2011.
- ^ "About Us", Official site, Melbourne: Heavenly Queen Temple, 2016.
- ^ Bateman, Paul. "Heavenly queen blesses the rise of Melbourne's west". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ Park, Andy. "Dragon roars for the Heavenly Queen in Bulldog country". The Age. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ Byrne, Bridie. "First stage of Heavenly Queen Temple in Footscray now complete". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ Green, Derek (30 May 2015), "The Queen's Birthday", The Westsider, Melbourne
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - ^ "Heavenly Queen Temple". Retrieved 14 January 2024.
External links
