Enshrining Guan Yin "观音" in our home

In preparation for the "re-enshrining" of Goddess of Mercy (Guan Yin / 观音) in our home, I was busy shopping for a new statue to replace our 15-year-old weather-beaten statue.

Shopping for a new statue for 观音 (Goddess of Mercy)

It was an arduous process for us as we went around shopping for the new statue.  We took almost 1 year to search for the new statue and ultimately found her at a wholesaler (based at Sims Avenue, near Geylang) for Buddhist products & prayer materials.

We visited all the shops selling such prayer statues at waterloo street and rochor centre.  However, both my hubby and myself felt that we weren't able to relate to the facial appearance of all the statues that were shown to us.  Our gutfeel told us that they weren't the right ones & that our affinity with the new Guan Yin statue had not been established yet.

Apart from prayers at the waterloo street Kwan Yin temple, we had also related our problems in securing the right replacement statue to our existing Guan Yin at home.  I had the idea that she heard our prayers.

About a week after, somebody recommended us this wholesaler who at that juncture, had plenty of porcelain buddhist statues available.  There was a huge variety & most were colourful in the sense that the Guan Yin statues were clothed in coloured garments.  I had the idea that since there's such a vast selection of statues there, we could take our time to select from that lot in their warehouse.

Unfortunately, by the time my hubby accompanied me to the warehouse during the weekends, I was shocked to learn that more than 90% of the statues had already been shipped out of Singapore.  That took place in a matter of just days!  We had no choice but to wait for the next batch of Guan Yin statues to arrive. 

We were very specific in our selection when we related our requirements to the wholesaler -

a) the statue must have a smiling disposition

b) the statue must be holding on to a vase & willow leaves

c) the statue must be 16" in height

d) the statue must be seated down

The wholesaler had given us their name card & advised us on the time frame in which the next shipment was expected to arrive in Singapore.  By the time I called in, I was pretty upset that the entire batch of Guan Yin statues in a gold garment & with a smiling disposition had been shipped out of Singapore when the retailers from Asia had already made their selection ahead of our phone call. *sob*

The wife of the wholesaler sensed our disappointment mixed with desperation in scouting around for the right Guan Yin statue for "re-enshrining" in our new home.  We were quite disheartened as our search for the new statue seemed to be futile and not within reach.  Once again, we left empty handed.

I supposed that she combed through her wares in the warehouse and she told me that we might like a statue that she had set aside for us.

Without further delay, we made our way down to the warehouse and we knew this was the right statue for our home when both hubby dearest & myself were laughing the minute we set eyes on her.

The new statue is made of white porcelain accented with gold and the base is sealed up with a thick, red, felt-like cloth.  We love the expression on her face as she has got very feminine features, smiling eyes that were elongated & kind-looking.

The statue is seated on a huge white lotus (outlined in gold) and holding on to both a gold vase & green willow leaves.  She's got pink cheeks, red lips and her body had been adorned with intricacies, including jewelery (eg necklace) & an elaborated buddhist headress.

Prayer Accessories
Since we bought the statue from the wholesaler, it was preferable that we purchase the other accessories from them as well.  The wholesaler would then be able to match all the accessories on the spot such that the accessories would complement the statue that we bought. 

Should we purchase accessories such as a pair of lamps and urn without the new statue, there is a very high possiblity that we might end up with the wrong sizing (for accessories).  eg lamps are too small/ too big; urn that's too small or too big etc etc.

The first thing we looked out for to go with the new statue was a wooden platform which was traditionally used to raise the height (of the statue when placed onto the altar).  The wholesaler recommended us a really thick-set, heavy, chunky piece of solid wooden base carved out in a round shape.  Walnut in colour.  It was extremely heavy!

We also bought a mini version of this wooden platform for a photograph of our 4-armed Chenrezig (One of the many forms of Guan Yin from Buddhism of Tibetan lineage) which we had been worshipping for the past few years.

The photograph shows a mini version of the solid wooden platform for our 4-armed Chenrezig which Khentrul Rinpoche from Sakya Tenpheling (Pasir Ris) had blessed for us before we enshrined it in our home.

These half crescent bamboo slabs were bought from Sin Chiew whose located a few doors away from the Kwan Yin temple at waterloo street.

Slabs made of bamboo are our favourite as they are relatively light and I love the appearance of these slabs.  Earthy in colour & appearance.  And a worthy reminder of the beauty of mother nature.

We bought a box of large-sized spiral incense (from Sin Chiew) for the purpose of burning the joss continuously without any breaks for a period of 3 days & 3 nights after the "re-enshrining".  This was a practice that was passed down by an elderly uncle who was well-versed in prayers.

As for the gold-tone urn for containing joss sticks & incense on our new altar, the wholesaler was kind enough to import a plain looking version just for us.  It is 6" in diameter at the mouth of the urn.

Other miscellanous accessories that we bought from the wholesaler at Sims Avenue included butter lamps on a crystal stand, a pair of crystal lamps in lotus motif and matching metal plates in similar theme; and porcelain "cups" in lotus motif.  These "cups" could pass off as bowls too.

I would usually use these pretty looking lotus motif bowls for containing flowers such as pom poms, jasmine, champaka or even a lotus flower head with its stalk trimmed off.

As the photographs were taken during the evenings with poor lighting, I had to reverse the cups during the photography so that the intricacies that are printed on the "cups" could be seen clearly.

They are such pretty cups that I was tempted to purchase more of it.  However, I was thankful that I didn't because they are somewhat underutilised except for special ocassions such as Chinese New Year & Vesak Day.

These pretty "cups" that are embossed in gold prints came in a variety of designs and in yellow too.  The yellow version is by far, my favourite design & is supposedly best suited as yellow had always been associated with Buddhism.

Another close-up photograph of the beautiful yellow cup in a lotus motif.

This is one of the 7 (seven) crystal candle holders that I bought from the wholesaler for the purpose of making butter lamp offerings in 7 colours.  This photograph doesn't do the item justice because the actual product is so sparkly looking almost akin to diamonds!

This prayer wheel which operates on either solar energy or a battery had also been acquired at the wholesaler's subsequently when they brought in the stocks.

It is very elegant and "tibetan" looking.  We left it turned on (with battery) at the altar 24 by 7.

It was a real steal for the price we paid at the wholesaler's showroom.  And we are keeping our fingers crossed that it would last us for a long time.







Our New (Rosewood) Altar Table 

We scout around and decided on a rosewood altar table that was found at SAMTAT Shanghai Arts & Crafts Centre.

This retailer had a reputation of being a veteran in the business of rosewood furnitures that are imported from Shanghai.  The price tags could be pretty alarming but in such economies of the modern times, the retailer had ongoing sales throughout the year.

Hence, if you fancy any item in their showroom, please feel free to request for their best price.
http://www.samtat.com.sg/
605 MacPherson Road,
#01-13 Citimac Industrial Complex,
Singapore 368239
Tel : (65) 6382 2374, (65) 6285 6186
Fax : (65) 6285 6203

Altar by day :

This is the true colour of our rosewood altar that was bought from SAMTAT.

It has very pretty looking mother-of-pearl embedded into the rosewood and
the pearly intricacies had a glossy effect.

Altar by night :

A photograph of how our altar looks like during the evenings.

(Photograph is taken on the eve of enshrining)

A close-up photograph of the sides of our altar, showing the mother-of-pearl inlaid on both sides.

As the location where we placed our altar catches the hot afternoon sun, the side of the altar had been showing signs of discoloration as you could see from the photograph.

We have however, decided to leave the altar as it is until further discoloration took place.  Then we could contact SAMTAT to do the necessary to restore it to its original condition.

For now, we are very happy with our purchase at SAMTAT.

Simulated skylight effects created by the pair of lotus motiffed crystal lamps in the dark.

Post-script : Our old Guan Yin statue had been handed over to Loyang Tua Pekong (Pasir Ris) and the new statue had been blessed at the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple at 178 Waterloo Street on a date that had been selected by myself through viewing the almanac.  It was a great challenge to interpret the almanac.  However, it was an eye-opening experience for me as a layman.  I didn't get the interpretation right at all times but it was a good kick-start for a newbie like myself.

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Disclaimer :  Please note that I am not affliated to any of the supplier/ retailer & temple mentioned in this blogging entry.  As such, kindly exercise self-discretion in the course of selecting & purchasing products.  Thank you.