Heavenly Queen Temple (Melbourne)

The Heavenly Queen Temple[1][2] is a temple dedicated to Mazu or Tian Shang Sheng Mu (天上聖母), Chinese Goddess of Sea and Patron Deity of fishermen, sailors and any occupations related to sea/ocean, also regarded as Ancestral Deity for Lim (林) Clan. The temple is located in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, approximately 4km from the Melbourne CBD, and overlooks the Maribyrnong River. It is Australia's largest Taoist temple and includes a 50-foot (15 m) gold-painted stainless steel statue of Mazu imported from Nanjing, China and installed in 2008, with the statue the second of its kind in the country.[3] The temple complex is based on the Forbidden City, with the main temple opening in 2012.[4] The temple's first stage was completed in 2013 at the cost of $5 million after 5 years of construction.[5] The main hall opened to the public in 2015, but construction of the temple complex continued until 2020 with two additional halls completed.[6] Once completed, the temple complex will cover approximately 40,000 square meters in area, with about two-thirds of the land to be used as a Chinese Garden and car park and the total floor area of the buildings to cover approximately 5000 square meters.[7]

Heavenly Queen Temple
Religion
AffiliationTaoism
DeityMazu
Location
Geographic coordinates37°47′55″S 144°54′51″E / 37.7987°S 144.9142°E / -37.7987; 144.9142
Heavenly Queen Temple
Traditional Chinese天后
Literal meaningHeavenly Queen Palace
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTianhou Gong
Wade–GilesT'ien-hou Kung
The statue of Mazu
Heavenly Queen temple, Footscray, Vic, Australia

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Welcome to the Heavenly Queen Temple", Former official site, Melbourne: Heavenly Queen Temple, 2009, archived from the original on 8 February 2011.
  2. ^ "About Us", Official site, Melbourne: Heavenly Queen Temple, 2016.
  3. ^ Bateman, Paul. "Heavenly queen blesses the rise of Melbourne's west". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  4. ^ Park, Andy. "Dragon roars for the Heavenly Queen in Bulldog country". The Age. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  5. ^ Byrne, Bridie. "First stage of Heavenly Queen Temple in Footscray now complete". Herald Sun. News Corp. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  6. ^ Green, Derek (30 May 2015), "The Queen's Birthday", The Westsider, Melbourne{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link).
  7. ^ "Heavenly Queen Temple". Retrieved 14 January 2024.
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