Frankly, no drastic changes at Batam's Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Monastery (天恩弥勒佛院) since my last visit in Year 2015 but since i am there; i would still take some pictures as proof of my stopover.
For details about the monastery, do check out my original post here.
Like most monasteries, there is the main Mahavira Hall (大雄寶殿) and according to my blog entry i made in 2015; this was then the only hall.
Different story now; there's the side hall with what appeared to be a humongous statue of the Chinese God of War, Guan Yu! I couldn't be too sure as Guan Yu is associated more with Taoism and the statue is missing its most identifiable asset; his weapon that's known as the Green Dragon Crescent Blade!
To the right of the main hall is another chamber that housed a commonly known Bodhisattva; the compassionate Goddess of Mercy.
I don't know why but i always feel at peace in the presence of the Goddess of Mercy. Although i associate myself more with Buddhism, i am not particularly devout.
Divination slip! It seemed popular among the devotees at the monastery even though the guanyin temple Waterloo Street in Singapore had a way higher number!
Our main objective; the vegetarian restaurant where my parents can purchase cartons of non-meat buns to indulge back at home (especially during the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month when they would have vegetarian food). Sadly, we were too late and all the frozen ones were already sold out.
Photo-taking time! As mentioned in my original post here, there are just too many photo opportunities; maybe i should do a live-story next time, so long someone is willing to be my model.
Compare 2015 with 2019! Well, they did try their best to replicate the same pose; Jerald is now sporting glasses (and taller) whereas Jovyn has obviously been too liberal in her eating!
Ending with a meaningful message from the above notice; i thought the translation is a bit off and my understanding is more that if you have an upright and good heart, it doesn't matter whether you pray or not.
=====
Address
Komplek Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Bukit Beruntung,
Sungai Panas, Kec. Batam Kota, Kota Batam,
Kepulauan Riau 29432, Indonesia
Location Map
As above.
No comments:
Post a Comment