Dolanesia

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Dewi Kwan Im

By Ariella N. Lai in Adventure

Dec 14, 2021

The local people call the Buddhayana Vihara or Dewi Kwan Im Vihara. East Belitung features unique places of worship to visit in addition to lovely exotic beaches.

On a hill, a beautiful house of worship sits. The crimson hue and traditional Chinese features dominate the structure, such as decorations and lanterns hanging from the roof. Anyone who visits feels at ease because of the cool air. Furthermore, the surrounding environment is breathtakingly beautiful.  This monastery is more than 250 years old and is perhaps Belitung Island’s largest and oldest temple. To enter this monastery, you must first climb the 86-piece staircase. This monastery includes three prayer rooms. Shimunyo was the first to arrive, as he was close to the stairwell. Going higher up, you’ll come to Sitiyamuni, a place of prayer. Moving higher, the most significant prayer area in this monastery, Kon Im, can be found. The main building is a place to pray to Dewi Kwan Im, the second building is a place to pray to Buddha, and the third building is a place to pray to Toapekong, the God of the Sea. A 12-meter high statue of Dewi Kwan Im stands at the highest point of the Dewi Kwan Im temple grounds.

There can be no separation between the existence of the Dewi Kwan Im Vihara and that of the Chinese in Bengkulu. The journey to conquer Java in the 13th century started from the Mongolarmada. Their ship was stranded on Gou-lan / Kaulan Island (Belitung). The damaged ship was repaired and resumed. After returning from Java, roughly 100 sick soldiers stopped and settled on the island afterward. They fled. With the beginning of mining in 1851, many Chinese in Belitung rose. in introduced them to become miners, Chinese immigrants. Many worked as traders after that, too.

Dewi Kwan Im, one of this monastery’s most significant religious places, was called to pray on a rock at Kon Im. This convent is always full of guests who wish to pray, for example, during Chinese NewYear and Vesak Day, for religious festivals. Not just Indonesian visitors but also foreign tourists. Comprehensibly, this monastery offers a beautiful view apart from being a place of prayer. The stunning vista of the Burung Mandi Beach Sea can be found in this monastery. You may also observe a herd of monkeys descending from the hill and feeding in the sanctuary for food. This monastery has a pool known as the Seven Angels pool and is named after the seven angels believed to live there. You can throw a penny here and make a wish, with some wishes reportedly to come true.

There’s also a designated room for fortune-telling. You may shake the bamboo bolts in a numbered glass until a bamboo bolt comes out of the glass. Then, according to the figures from the sticks, use ciamsi, a paper that contains forecasts. In Burong Mandi Village, Damar District, East Belitung Regency, Dewi Kwan Im Vihara is found. The city of Tanjung Pandan, located in the East Belitung Regency, may have traveled for approximately 69 km or two hours to reach the monastery, with a distance of 18 km from around thirty minutes from Manggar.