Singkawang, The City of Thousands Shrines

By Tunggul Tauladan

It was our third day in West Kalimantan. Our agenda for the day was visiting Singkawang to fulfill the invitation of Bang Iswan M. Isa, Director of Al Barakah Center as well as Head of Land Board of Singkawang. Our trip to Singkawang, the City of Thousand Shrines, began.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, Third Day in Pontianak

It was estimated that our trip would take 2.5 – 3 hours. At 09.00 a.m. West Indonesian Standard Time, Mahyudin Al Mudra, Yuhastina Sinaro, Aam Ito Tistomo, Bang Angga and the writer departed from Grand Kartika Hotel westwards, the same direction when we went to Mempawah. On the way, we passed Mempawah and Bengkayang and several tourism objects such as the Equator Monument in Pontianak and Pasir Panjang Beach in Singkawang.

We stopped by at a food stall at Bengkayang Regency. From this stall we could see the beautiful Kijing Beach and Kijing Island clearly. According to Abang Angga, our tour guide, Kijing Island used to merged with the main land but then separated due to sea abrasion.

Next to Kijing Island is Datuk Island. Datuk Island is popular for its richness of fish. This island is a quite popular fishing spot in Pontianak and Bengkayang. It took us 3 hours from Kijing Island to Datuk Island by motor boat.

Fishlike creature is another view we observed from the stall. Only, the “fish” we talk about here walks and lives in land. Local people call this creature “tembakul fish”. This fish is so unique that it lives in two habitats. It might be proper to classify this fish into amphibian.

Tembakul fish digs hole of 10-15 diameters in land (mud) to make it den. This hole resembles a small deep mud hole. This fish has two legs which are presumed to be the modification of its fins to enable it walks like a tadpole.

Tembakul fish

Tembakul fish has brown color with small white dots. Its shape resembles murrel, but it has footlike body part behind its gills. This feet are used to walk. This fish is abundant on the (mud) shore of Kijing Beach. However, this fish is not for consumption.

After the break, we continued our trip to Singkawang. After 3 hours of journey we arrived at Singkawang Regency. Our first destination was the Land Board of Sigkawang. This office is located at Alianyang Street 25 Singkawang. We got there at around 12.00 p.m.

Singkawang is an area of range of hills with Chinese as its major resident. Singkawang is well-known as Amoy City or Indonesian China Town because its major people (about 75%) are Chinese. Thus, Singkawang is also popular for its many Buddhist shrines or better known as the City of Thousands Shrines.

Bang Nano, Bang Iswan’s staff, welcomed us. He was the one to guide us while in Singkawang. Our first destination would be Rumah Panjang Dayak.

Rumah Panjang Dayak

Rumah Panjang Dayak is located at Jalan Baru No 07, Sijangkung, South Singkawang. It is on either side of Chinese Cemetery of Darma Bakti Foundation.

Rumah Panjang

On the west of Rumah Panjang Dayak there is the Dayak Customary Board Secretariat (DAD) of Singkawang. On the west of Rumah Panjang several houses are built for swallow bird nests. Singkawang is indeed popular as the supplier of swallow bird nests. In addition, there is a factory of rock knapping. As for the remainder, Rumah Panjang Dayak is surrounded by range of hills which is the dominant geographic landscape of Singkawang.

Dayak Customary Board Secretariat (DAD) of Singkawang

Rumah Panjang Dayak in Singkawang is quite modern. It is a building of concrete foundation with wooden floor. Rumah Panjang Dayak is dominated by yellow color with the variation of Dayak specific ornaments. It was built from January 5, 2007 to May 20, 2007. The inauguration was on May 26, 2007 by Singkawang Mayor Drs. H. Awang Ishak M.si.

A welcome greeting in Dayak language that reads “Adil Katalino, Bacuramin ka saruga basengat ka Jubata” welcomed us as we entered into this house. The sentence means, more or less, “we must be just and honest to others because our deeds are our tickets to heaven”.

Welcome greeting in Dayak language

Under this sentence there are large porcelain jugs of Dayak specialty. According to the custodian, those jugs are the fines charged to Dayak people who perform marriage as a consequence of immorality. Dayak people believe that such marriage is performed due to pregnancy out of wedlock. The man or woman that is fined must give a porcelain jug to each family member of both.

On the right and left side of the jugs display there are three rooms used to keep objects of Dayak specialties such as banners with Dayak ornaments. According to the custodian, these objects will later be used for customary ceremonies like Naik Dango or Gawai which are performed annually in every May. From Rumah Panjang Dayak we went on to visit Budha Tri Darma Shrine or Cikung Shrine.

Objects usually used in Dayak customary ceremonies such as
Naik Dango and Gawai

Budha Tri Darma Shrine (Ji Gong House of Help)

Budha Tri Darma Shrine or Cikung Shrine

Budha Tri Darma Shrine or Cikung Shrine is a Buddhist monastery situated at Sagatani (Sin Nam) Street, Sijangkang, South Singkawang Subdistrict, Singkawang. It took us 15 minutes from Rumah Panjang Dayak to this shrine by car.

Cikung Shrine does not only serve as a place of worship, it also serves as “Sinar Abadi” Senior Citizens Home under Dharma Budha Cikung Foundation.

As we entered its main entrance, we could smell burning incenses. The main door is guarded by two lion statues painted gold. According to the custodian, this building was initiated in 1999. At first it has only a single floor, but in 2000, it was renovated into a three story building.

We wrote down our names on the guest book and gave some donation to the custodian before entering the shrine. The custodian, in return, gave several books about Buddhaism. On the first floor, there is the statue of Budha Cikung standing.

Statue of Budha Cikung

In front of Budha Cikung statue there is a mini fountain which is believed to have been blessed by Buddha Cikung. This fountain is surrounded by a 1 meter pot-like container made of cement. Visitors are not allowed to wash feet on this fountain but are allowed to take the water to drink. On the right side of the statue there is a big drum of 1.5 meters diameter. The drum membrane is made of cow skin. On the left of the statue there is a big bell.

Still in this floor, there is a Buddha statue of 1.5 meters tall. This statue is positioned in a special room behind Buddha Cikung statue. Surrounding Buddha statue are statues of gods and goddesses in Buddhism.

Buddha statue on the first floor

Entering the second floor we were welcomed by a grand statue of Buddha Cikung of approximately 2 meters in sitting position. This statue is the only statue on this floor. In front of this statue there is a porch. There are two pillars decorated with dragon statue enlaced by the pillar and on top of the pillar there is a statue of Sun Go Kong lifting a gleaming ball (lamp). On the middle part of the pillar there is a statue of Sun Go Kong of around 2 meters tall.

The ambience on the second floor

On the third floor there is another Buddha Cikung statue only smaller in size. Another Buddha statue is put in front of Buddha Cikung statue which is smaller compared to those in the other two rooms. In addition to these two Buddha statues the third floor is filled with statues of gods and goddesses in Buddhism. They are all well-arranged.

Statues on the third floor

After enjoying the grandeur of Chinese culture fully presented in Cikung Shrine we went to the next destination, Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine, the oldest shrine in Singkawang downtown. Before we went there we had lunch at a Padang restaurant not far from Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine. After that we went on foot to our next destination, Pasar Tengah Street.

Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine

Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine

Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine is the oldest shrine in Singkawang. Toward the main entrance there are words of wisdom from Chinese prominent figures. They are written with cement on the shrine’s fence. There is one by Confucius that says “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” After rows of words of wisdom we entered the main door of Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine.

Words of wisdom

Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine presents different atmosphere from Cikung Shrine. It is much smaller and less gloriuos. One thing special from this shrine is that it keeps Chinese wooden statues of hundreds years of age.

According to its custodian these statues are called Pek Tong. These was brought in from China. There are three sets of Pek Kong statues and they are the only statues in this shrine.

Pek Kong

Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine is a single story building. It is apparent that this shrine is hundreds years of age. Local people and the custodian himself cannot give a specific date of the shrine’s establishment. It is estimated that it is more than 100 years old.

That day, the custodians were busy preparing sets of equipment for Buddhist traditional ritual. There are candles of giant size, incenses, and fruits. As a matter of fact, Tri Dharma Bumi Raya Shrine holds prayer service every day in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we did not have much time to see it. Our trip continued to Pasir Panjang Beach.

Pasir Panjang Beach

Pasir Panjang Beach

Pasir Panjang Beach is one of Singkawang main tourism destinations located in Tujuh Belas Subdistrct. It is about 17 km or 20 minutes drive from Singkawang downtown.

From this beach we could see Lemukutan Island, Kabung Island and Randayan Island surrounded by Natuna Sea. Pasir Panjang Beach is equipped with public facilities such as tourism information center; discotheque; speed boat rental, water bicycle, darmoling, go-cart, shelters, cottages and souvenir shops.

Our photographer Aam Ito Tistomo did not want to miss this moment and so hurriedly taking beautiful pictures of them. Unfortunately, the rain prevented us from staying longer on this beach. We had to return to Pontianak. After all we had witnessed, we came to the conclusion that this City of Thousands Shrines shows the cultural richness of Borneo Island.

Pontianak Special Souvenirs

Pattimura Street and some special souvenirs from Kalimantan

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by to shop some souvenirs. Singkawang specialties were not easy to find. However, Bang Angga asked us to find Pontianak souvenirs instead.

Pattimura Street is designed as a souvenir center in West Kalimantan. Various Kalimantan specialties are provided here. There are mandau (sacred decapitating knife of Kalimantan), traditional cloth, Eurycoma longifolia Jack, kris (a weapon and a cult object said to have magic powers), precious stone, T-shirt, necklace, bracelet and key chain. This is the perfect place to buy souvenirs.

Bang Mahyudin bought caping (a broad woven bamboo hat worn as a sunshade by villagers or farmers), precious stone and shears. Yuhastina Sinaro bought herself Kalimantan clothes and T-shirt, Mr. Aam bought some Kalimantan necklaces. The writer himself bought some key chains and Kalimantan T-shirt.

After we got all the souvenirs we moved on to Sisingamangaraja Street. This is the center for Pontianak special food. Some of them are dodol lidah buaya (a confection made of glutinous rice with coconut milk, sugar palm and Aloe vera), lempok durian (candied durian), crispy fish and Pontianak shrimp paste.

We were satisfied by the cultural richness of Singkawang and the scenic panorama at Kijing Beach and Pasir Panjang Beach. Moreover, we got all souvenirs.

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Tunggul Tauladan, editor of MelayuOnline.com and researcher at BKPBM

Translation by Apri Widiastuti (trns/47/05-10)

Photo Source: Collection of BKPMB (Photographer: Aam Ito Tistomo)

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