Tin Hao Pagoda, Port Louis毛里求斯天后庙
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- Mauritius · Port Louis · Port Louis · Within the compound of the Nam Shun Fooy Koon, alongside the Kwan Tee Pagoda, adjacent to the Champ de Mars racecourse
- First built
- 1896 · Stands alongside the Kwan Tee Pagoda of the Nam Shun Fooy Koon, forming the twin-pagoda arrangement of Port Louis's Chinese temples.
Overview
The Tin Hao Pagoda was built in 1896 within the compound of the Nam Shun Fooy Koon in Port Louis, standing alongside the Kwan Tee Pagoda on the same site, together forming the twin-pagoda arrangement typical of Mauritian Chinese temples. Its principal deity is Tin Hao (that is, Mazu), venerated as goddess of the sea and protector of voyages — devotees visit the pagoda to pray for safety before setting out on long journeys, a function of direct practical significance for a Chinese community that had itself arrived by sea in stages and that has long been engaged in shipping and trade. The waves of Chinese immigration to Mauritius are clearly delineated: those forcibly brought from Sumatra in the 1740s soon resisted and were repatriated; from the 1780s to the early nineteenth century, more than 3,000 who crossed the sea voluntarily from Guangzhou established Port Louis's Chinatown, the earliest of them predominantly Hokkien from Xiamen; from the mid-nineteenth century, Cantonese from Nanhai, Shunde and elsewhere followed; and from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, Hakka from Meixian became the largest group. Today ethnic Chinese make up about three percent of the national population, half of them residing in Port Louis. The birthday of Mazu (during the third or fourth lunar month) is one of the pagoda's three great festivals.
Highlights
- Built in 1896 within the compound of the Nam Shun Fooy Koon
- Principal deity Tin Hao (Mazu), venerated as goddess of the sea
- Forms a twin-pagoda arrangement with the Kwan Tee Pagoda
- Four clearly delineated waves of Mauritian Chinese immigration
- The birthday of Mazu is one of the pagoda's three great festivals