Klenteng Tri Dharma Bumi Raya, Singkawang山口洋大伯公庙
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- Indonesia · West Kalimantan · Singkawang · Jalan Diponegoro, Singkawang Tengah
- First built
- 1878 · Generally given as 1878, making it the oldest Chinese temple in Singkawang.
- Heritage status
- Singkawang's Cap Go Meh designated a national-level tourism festival of Indonesia
Overview
The Tua Pek Kong Temple (formally Vihara/Klenteng Tri Dharma Bumi Raya), built in 1878, is the oldest Chinese temple and a city landmark of Singkawang. Ethnic Chinese make up over half of Singkawang's population, and the town has the highest density of temples in all of Indonesia, earning it the name 'City of a Thousand Temples'; most residents are Hakka. The temple is dedicated primarily to Tua Pek Kong (Fude Zhengshen, the Earth God) and is the ritual center of the citywide Cap Go Meh (Lantern Festival) celebration: on the eve of the festival, tatung (spirit mediums, with roots in both the Chinese child-spirit-medium tradition and Dayak shamanism) from around the region gather before the temple to consult Tua Pek Kong and receive the god's mandate, before dispersing across the city to perform cuci jalan ('cleansing the streets') exorcism rites; during the procession on the day of the festival, the tatung display their state of spirit possession by piercing their cheeks with iron skewers, riding sedan chairs of blades, and other feats. In 2025 more than seven hundred tatung took part. This custom fuses the Chinese spirit-medium tradition with Dayak shamanic culture, a classic case of ethnic fusion in Indonesia, and has now become a national tourism festival. The temple is registered under Indonesian law within the Tridharma temple system.
Highlights
- Built in 1878, the oldest Chinese temple and a landmark of Singkawang
- Chinese make up over half the population of Singkawang, which has the highest temple density in Indonesia, known as the 'City of a Thousand Temples'
- Center of the tatung (spirit-medium) rites of the Cap Go Meh Lantern Festival
- The tatung tradition fuses Chinese spirit-medium practice with Dayak shamanic culture
- Over seven hundred tatung took part in 2025; now a national tourism festival