Kuan Yin Teng, or Temple of the Goddess of Mercy, is one of the most important temples in Penang. Officially known as Kong Hock Keong, it is located along Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, formerly Pitt Street, and is one of the oldest Chinese temples in George Town. If you study the history of the Goddess of Mercy Temple, you would be surprised to learn that at the time it was built, it was not dedicated to Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, but rather to Ma Chor Po, the patron saint of seafarers.
This is what I discovered, as I sieved through the documents on this renowned temple. Apparently, and understandably, the Ma Chor Po, as a goddess dedicated to rescuing seafarers from the perils at sea, was the original primary diety of the temple because the Chinese community, being newcomers in a strange land, needed divine protection for their tumultous journey through the South China Sea. A study of the altar tablets shows that the tablet representting the Ma Chor Po is larger than the one for theKuan Yin . Also, according to historian Ong Seng Huat, the poems inscribed on the 60 fortune sticks in the temple are similar to those found in Ma Chor Potemples.
In all likelihood, as the local Chinese community evolved from one dependent on the sea to one which is urban, the virtues of the Goddess of Mercy - motherliness, compassionate, dedicated to saving mortals from tribulation - became more congruent to their needs. This transition from Ma Chor Po toKuan Yin 1824, because two stelae erected by the Board of Directors of the temple indicated that the Goddess of Mercy was the main deity even before 1824.
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*Original Text derived from HERE
*Displayed pictures are web sourced
*Displayed pictures are web sourced
