Hok Tek Bio: God of Prosperity Temple at Dragon Bay, Indonesia
I visited Teluk Naga (Teluk = bay, naga = dragon), a subdistrict in Tangerang, Banten Province on June 2023 for delivering a Dharma Talk to the youth community of Tri Maha Dharma Buddhist Temple.
After the talk session, I rode my bike visiting a kelenteng (Chinese Temple) nearby. For about 1,8 km of distance, I arrived Hok Tek Bio / Fú Dé Miào / 福德庙 (Temple of Blessings and Virtue). As the name suggest, Hok Tek Bio is a temple dedicated for Hok Tek Ceng Sin / Fú Dé Zhèng Shén / 福德正神, The God of Prosperity.
Hok Tek Bio is the oldest temple in Teluk Naga by the immigrant Chinese who come to Indonesia through the sea long time ago. The naming was on purpose, Chinese is identical to dragon (naga), so the place was named Teluk Naga or “Dragon Bay”.
The nuance is classic and oldish, but I could sense that the temple building has been renovated for the last decade. It was confirmed by the temple worker that the temple was built on 1975, but caught fire on 2015–2016 (the worker can’t confirm the year, he just said the fire happened about 7 years ago).
I walked inside and to pay respect to the main god of this temple. Fú Dé Zhèng Shén is one of the most popular deity in Chinese traditional religion, along with Guan Yin (Kwan Im) and Guan Yu (Kwan Kong). “Fu” or “Hok” (福) means prosperity, and “De” or “Tek” (德) means virtue (sometimes interpreted as morality). Fu De Zheng Shen is considered as God of Prosperity, sometimes the Earth Deity (distinguish it from the Tu Di Gong which also gets the same title but they are different figures).
Then I burned incense sticks and paying homage to the deities following this order:
- Thian / Tiān (天), or the heaven, the most supreme entity in the universe,
- Sam Kuan Ta Ti / Sān Guān Dà Dì (三官大帝), the three rulers of heaven, earth, and sea,
- Hok Tek Ceng Sin / Fú Dé Zhèng Shén (福德正神), the main deity of this temple,
- Tu Ti Pa Kung & Tu Ti Pa Po / Tǔ Dì Gōng & Tǔ Dì Pó (土地公 & 土地婆), the male and female deity of earth,
- Kwan Im Po Sat / Guān Yīn Pú Sà (觀音菩薩), the goddess of mercy,
- Kwan Seng Te Kun / Guān Shèng Dì Jūn (關聖帝君), the Chinese military general worshipped as a saint,
- Pat Sian / Bā Xiān (八仙), the eight immortals,
- Thay Sue Sing Cun / Tài Suì Xīng Jūn (太歳星君), the star deities,
- Tan Tek Siu / Chén Dé Xiū (陈德修), the Chinese holy sage originated from East Java, Indonesia,
- Cen Ie Thien Cuen / Zhèng Yī Tiān Jūn (正一天君), the god of wealth,
- Hian Thian Siang Te / Xuán Tiān Shàng Dì (玄天上帝), the heavenly highest deitiy,
- Bao Sen Ta Ti / Bǎo Shēng Dà Dì (保生大帝), the deity of medicine,
- Djie Lay Hud / Mi Lè Pú Sà (弥勒菩萨), the future Buddha or Maitreya,
- Thay Sang Lau Cin / Tài Shàng Lǎo Jūn (太上老君), highest Taoist god,
- Se Cia Mu Ni / Shì Jiā Móu Ní (释迦牟尼), the Buddha,
- Co Su Kong / Zǔ Shī Gōng (祖師公), the immigrant protector deity — and last,
- Makam Keramat, the local sacred figures.
I have come to this temple twice, and I never found another visitor beside me. The worker said that there are very few visitors daily, since people usually come on Ce It and Cap Go (the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar), and the birthday (se jit) of Hok Tek Ceng Sin. But every Tuesday night, the temple holds worship services in Mahayana Buddhist way.
Well, I hope that this temple will be preserved and become a monument to the assimilation of Indonesian and Chinese culture in Tangerang.
~garvingoei
