Thien Hau Temple, Los Angeles, Taoist temple in Chinatown, Los Angeles, United States
Thien Hau Temple is a Taoist place of worship in the middle of Los Angeles Chinatown, housed in a red building with curved roofs, dragon carvings, and a decorated tomb on top. Inside, the space is filled with lanterns, candles, fruit, flowers, and many colorful statues arranged around several altars.
The temple began in a former Christian church building bought by a local community association in the 1980s. A larger structure was completed in 2005 and opened the following year to serve the growing number of worshippers in the neighborhood.
Devotees often bring fruit, flowers, and incense to the shrine of Mazu, the sea goddess, whom many local Vietnamese and Chinese worshippers call Mama. During festivals, lion dancers, firecrackers, and offerings of roast pig fill the space, while visitors quietly light candles near the statues of guardians like Guan Yu and Fu De.
Visitors can walk through the main hall at a slow pace, stopping at the different altars, and should dress modestly out of respect for those who come to pray. The temple is easy to reach on foot from other parts of Chinatown, and the quiet interior offers a break from the busy streets nearby.
Small handmade statues of Mazu are scattered throughout the temple, each one left by a different visitor as a personal gift. They form an ever-changing collection that no two visits will look exactly the same.
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