Located at Telok Ayer Street, where Singapore's waterfront used to be, Thian Hock Keng was built by Fujian Chinese immigrants during the early 19th century. Grateful that the Goddess of the Sea, or Tianhou, had granted them safe passage across the hazardous South China Sea, the immigrants erected the temple in honour of the goddess. The temple was designed and built by skilled craftsmen from China according to definite Chinese temple architectural traditions.
