It's very obvious that there's a temple on the roof of the Everrise supermarket on Jalan Padungan. You can clearly see it from the street below.

But it's not always open. So today was our first visit to what is officially called the Hing Ann Thien Hoe Kong Tian Hou Gong.

All the following information comes from James S.L. Yong's beautifully illustrated book, Padungan.

This loftily situated place is also known as the Ma Cho Temple. (Ma Cho is an alternative form of Mazu, aka Tian Hou, whom we've come across frequently on our travels in East Asia. This is the same deity who is celebrated at the Hin Ho Bio, another rooftop temple, this time on Carpenter Street, as well as at the shrine by the river, the site of which has moved somewhat since we've been here.)

Associated with the Heng Hua people group, the temple formerly stood on the site of what is now the Everrise supermarket. At that point, it was part of the family residence of businessman Song Kheng Hai (which looks very grand in the photo in the book). He sold the building to the Hing Ann Association, and it continued to house the temple as well as a school and various other association activities. When the house was demolished, much later, the temple was accommodated in a temporary structure until such times as the Everrise building was completed. And then the temple was moved to the roof...

I love this classic example of Sarawakian pragmatism...











A nice little early-morning exploration, therefore. All the better for being unexpected.