Buddha Tooth Relic Temple According to Buddhist scriptures, Sakyamuni Buddha left behind four wisdom tooth relics and 40 tooth relics for future generations. One of these, temporarily housed at the Golden Pagoda Buddhist Temple in Tampines, will find a new home in the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple Singapore (BTRTS) in Sago Street when it is completed in 2007.

Relics are commonly used as instruments for spreading Buddhism as they help to establish new centres of religious significance. The construction cost of the BTRTS is estimated to be $53- million. It is to include a two- metre, all- gold stupa for the tooth relic. Within three months of the request for donations, more than 83 kg of gold, as well as $10 million, were collected. The effort was spearheaded by Venerable Fa Zhao, abbot of the Golden Pagoda Buddhist Temple.

The new BTRTS will be a six- storey structure comprising worship halls, museums, an exhibition centre and a basement performance theatre. The Sacred Buddha Tooth Chamber, which will have a gold canopy above the stupa, as well as gold- tiled floors, is located on the fourth level. The inner chamber is a restricted zone, and the public can venerate and observe the thrice- daily religious services only from the public viewing area, when the curtain shielding the 250- kg gold stupa is raised.

Photo credit: Buddha Tooth Relic Temple