Klenteng Ancol (Vihara Bahtera Bhakti), Jakarta雅加达安恤大伯公庙

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Indonesia · Jakarta Special Capital Region · Ancol, North Jakarta · Jalan Pantai Sanur, Ancol, Jakarta Utara

First built

the 17th century · Temple tradition dates it to around 1650; the exact year lacks independent documentary support

Overview

Klenteng Ancol (the Tua Pek Kong Temple at Ancol) stands on the North Jakarta waterfront; temple tradition holds that it was founded in the mid-seventeenth century. Its most distinctive feature is the plurality of what it enshrines: besides Tua Pek Kong (Fude Zhengshen) and Guanyin, the temple precinct also contains an Islamic sacred tomb (keramat), traditionally said to be the grave of a member of Zheng He's fleet, venerated by Chinese Muslims and non-Muslims alike — creating a pattern in which Chinese popular religion coexists with the veneration of an Islamic sacred tomb. This phenomenon is common in the coastal towns of Java's northern shore (Semarang, Cirebon, Ancol), reflecting the intertwining of the memory of Zheng He with localized Islam. During the Suharto era it was re-registered as a Buddhist vihara under the legal name Vihara Bahtera Bhakti. Reliable documentation of the temple's date and early history is lacking, and this entry makes no definite claim.

Highlights

• A Tua Pek Kong temple on the North Jakarta waterfront
• The temple precinct also contains an Islamic sacred tomb (keramat), traditionally said to be the grave of a member of Zheng He's fleet
• Chinese popular religion coexists with the veneration of an Islamic sacred tomb
• Legal name Vihara Bahtera Bhakti
• The founding date lacks independent documentary support