Choong Yee Thong Church, Kolkata加尔各答忠义堂庙
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- India · West Bengal · Kolkata · 19 Meredith Street, Kolkata 700013; a rooftop temple
- First built
- 1920 · Originally a Chinese-language school, with a temple later set up on the rooftop; closes daily after eleven in the morning
Overview
Choong Yee Thong Church stands at 19 Meredith Street, established in 1920; the building originally housed a Chinese-language school, and a temple was later set up on its rooftop, dedicated chiefly to Guandi and the God of Wealth. The way this temple came into being is quite representative of Kolkata: a Chinese community would first establish a school to sustain its language and culture, and then carve out a space for worship within the same building — religion and education sharing a single site — a pattern consistent with the school attached to Nam Soon Church and the rooftop temple of Pei May School. This reflects a common strategy among inland immigrant communities of limited means, layering functions onto a single site. The rooftop-temple form is itself distinctive to Kolkata: constrained by land prices and building density in the neighborhood, temples could not occupy independent plots and so were moved up onto rooftops, creating a landscape unique to South Asian Chinese temples. The temple closes daily after eleven in the morning. It should be honestly noted: this is a community temple, not an independent Daoist institution, and is very small in scale.
Highlights
- Established in 1920, originally a Chinese-language school
- Dedicated chiefly to Guandi and the God of Wealth
- A rooftop temple, a form distinctive to Kolkata
- Religion and education sharing a single site
- Closes daily after eleven in the morning