The Thien Hau Temple. & is a

Chinese temple Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as: * '' miào'' () or ''di� ...

located in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, dedicated to the ocean goddess

Mazu Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Re ...

. It is one of the more popular areas for worship and tourism among Asian residents in the

Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

. In addition to Mazu, the temple also venerates the martial deity of justice, Guan Sheng Di Jun (關聖帝君) and the wealth deity Fu De Zheng Shen (福德正神).

History

The temple is affiliated with the Camau Association of America, a local benevolent, cultural and religious association primarily serving the local Chinese-Vietnamese refugees from Cà Mau Province,

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. The group also supports

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

, and

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais), Thais of Chinese origin ( th, ชาวไทยเชื้อสายจีน; ''exonym and also domestically''), endonym Thai people ( th, ชาวไทย), are Chinese descenda ...

communities. The original building of the temple was a former Italian Christian church located within what was formerly Little Italy, the building was purchased and remodeled by the Camau Association in the 1980s. The three main images of Mazu, Guan Yu, and Fu De were imported from Vietnam and dedicated in 1990. Under a strong faith-based community in and outside of Chinatown, the temple was able to raise a great deal of donated money with which to build a larger temple hall. Construction of the new temple was completed and dedicated in September 2005, a

memorial hall A memorial hall is a hall built to commemorate an individual or group; most commonly those who have died in war. Most are intended for public use and are sometimes described as ''utilitarian memorials''. History of the Memorial Hall In the aft ...

for the enshrinement of ancestors was consecrated the following month.

Services

Thien Hau Temple is usually festive on the commemoration days of various deities, especially

. On the eve of Chinese New Year, members from various communities gather to receive blessings and to burn incense in worship of the Deities. Lion dance will be performed and firecrackers are popped in order to ward off any evil spirits. Representatives from over 25 family associations headquartered in Chinatown and other communities are present to light the firecrackers at the stroke of midnight. Since the temple is located within the heart of Chinatown, the temple is often seen as the local "Times Square" to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Many people come to the temple especially during the first week after New Year to receive a blessing for the year. On the concluding day of the New Year celebrations, people come to the temple to pray and beckon

for blessings and protection for the rest of the year. In recent years, a large number of non-Asian visitors have equaled the number of Asian visitors and congregants who assemble at the temple during the New Year celebration. On weekends and the 1st and 15th day of the lunar calendar, food is provided to the general public for free (with the option to give a donation to the temple). The temple also holds a

Zhong Yuan Festival The Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival (traditional Chinese: 中元節; simplified Chinese: ) in Taoism and Yulanpen Festival () in Buddhism, is a traditional Taoist and Buddhist festival held in certain East Asian countrie ...

ceremony in the summer. In 2020, all services for that year were cancelled for the first time in the temple's history due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The temple reopened to the public on a limited basis in early 2021 under new safety guidelines.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.thienhautemple.com/
Ten Ho TempleInside Thien Hau Temple during Chinese New Year
Chinatown, Los Angeles Chinese-American culture in Los Angeles Religious buildings and structures in Los Angeles Religious buildings and structures completed in 2005 Taoist temples in the United States Temples in California Mazu temples Thai-American culture in California Tourist attractions in Los Angeles Vietnamese-American culture in California