Kwan Tai Shek Temple (See Yup Koon), Mumbai孟买关帝庙（四邑公所）
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- India · Maharashtra · Mumbai · Nawab Tank Road, Mazgaon (near Dockyard Road), in Mumbai's old Chinese quarter
- First built
- Late 19th to early 20th century · No reliable record of the exact founding year; an association temple founded by immigrants from the Siyi region
Overview
The Kwan Tai Shek Temple in Mumbai (locally known as Kwan Tai Shek, i.e., the Stone of Guandi or Shrine of Guandi) is located in the old Chinese quarter around Nawab Tank Road in Mazgaon, near Dockyard Road, and is managed by the See Yup Koon, an association founded by immigrants from the Siyi (Four Counties) region of Guangdong; it chiefly venerates Guandi. Mumbai's Chinese community has always been much smaller than Kolkata's, made up mostly of Cantonese sailors, carpenters and peddlers who arrived by sea from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century and settled near the port district; the community shrank substantially after the mid-twentieth century, and the temple grew correspondingly quiet, today receiving only sporadic worship at Lunar New Year and on Guandi's birthday. It should be honestly noted that documentary records of this temple are extremely scarce, and its founding year, the history of its renovations, and the composition of its pantheon have not been reliably established; the account given here is based only on existing field records and community oral accounts, and readers should treat it with caution. This temple, together with the temples of Kolkata, is one of the few surviving examples of Chinese temples in South Asia.
Highlights
- A Guandi temple in Mumbai's old Chinese quarter
- Managed by the See Yup Koon
- The community was mostly Cantonese sailors, carpenters and peddlers
- Today receives only sporadic worship at Lunar New Year and Guandi's birthday
- Documentary records are extremely scarce; should be treated with caution