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A 900-year-old deity statue has arrived in Malaysia for the first time, and it made quite the journey.

The Chin Swee Deity statue travelled from the ancestral Chin Swee temple in Anxi county, Fujian, China, to the temple in Genting Highlands, which marks its 50th anniversary this year.

That makes the statue about 850 years older than the temple that now houses it.

The statue was taken to Gohtong Memorial Park and placed on a ceremonial float.

From there, the procession wound through Resorts World Awana and stopped at the Genting Datuk Gong Shrine for a blessing.

It then passed RW Hotel, Genting Grand, First World Hotel, Crockfords and Genting SkyWorlds Hotel before reaching the temple, where the statue was placed in the Chin Swee Deity Prayer Hall during an enshrinement ceremony.

Devotees and visitors lined the route to watch.

Temple To Serve Faith For 50 More Years

Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of the Chin Swee Caves Temple Building Society and executive chairman of Genting Berhad, said his late father built the temple as a place for people to pray and find spiritual comfort.

After 50 years, the arrival of the sacred Chin Swee Deity statue is a meaningful reminder that the faith and traditions upon which the temple was founded have continued to connect people across generations and borders.

He added that the temple hopes to preserve this heritage for the next 50 years.

His father, the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, founded the temple.

It all started by accident.

While hiking through the jungle of Mount Ulu Kali during early work on the Genting Highlands highway, Goh Tong found a cool, rocky hillside with running streams that reminded him of Chin Swee Crag back home in Penglai Village, Fujian.

So moved, he slept there, dreamt of the deity, and took it as a sign to push ahead with his resort plans and build a sanctuary once his business was established.

Building it took 18 years, and because the steep, rocky site sits 4,600 feet above sea level, heavy machinery was out of the question, so Goh Tong took on the roles of planner, architect, designer and supervisor himself.

His team dug foundation pillars by hand, some 80 to 100 feet deep into the cliff faces, before the temple opened on 29 March 1994.

Remarkably, the team finished the manual work without a single work-related accident or casualty.

Temple Opens Gallery, Glass Lotus Installation and Indoor Hall

A seven-day, seven-night Grand Dharma Assembly will run from 23 to 30 October across seven altars within the temple grounds, as a central part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The event is formally titled the Golden Jubilee Water and Land Grand Dharma Assembly, according to information published by the temple and Resorts World Genting.

Venerable Miao Jiang presides over the assembly.

He is vice president of the Buddhist Association of China and abbot of Zhulin Temple on Mount Wutai, China.

About 80 monks and monastics from China and other countries are conducting the rituals, according to the temple.

Scheduled recitations include the Medicine Buddha Sutra, Diamond Sutra, Ksitigarbha Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra and Amitabha Sutra.

Prayer and merit offering packages start from RM388.

The temple also opened three new facilities for the anniversary: the Chin Swee Caves Temple Galleria, an exhibition space on the Sky Terrace; the Glazed Glass Lotus installation; and Kimhua Hall, an indoor hall for meditation, gatherings and exhibitions.

A 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner will be held on Saturday (24 Oct).

All photos by the writer.

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