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Kusu
Island was known as Pulau Tembakul in the bygone era.
It was accepted as the burial site of immigrants who
died in quarantine on St. John's and Lazarus Islands.
Kusu Island is a major attraction in Singapore. Every
year many devotees throng he Island shrines from far
flung places.
The famous shrine in the island's Da Ba
Gong Temple (or Temple of the Merchant God) receives
130000 worshippers on the ninth month of the lunar calendar.
The island boasts two swimming lagoons thus making it
a popular destination for day-trippers to enjoy the
sun and sand.
It is said that before Kusu was domesticated, it had
a shape like a turtle.
It is made up of two ridges on
a reef, one ridge the head, and the other (where the
hilltop is now) the back of the turtle.
Kusu is ringed by coral reefs with a mystifying variety
of hard and soft corals.
Commonly viewed animals include
clown anemone fish, anemone shrimps, and flocks of other
colorful fishes and crabs are seldom seen on other Southern
Shores.
It is believed that Kusu Island once saved two shipwrecked
ship and its sailors by taking the shape of a giant
turtle.
Since then every sailor passing by the Island
makes a halt as a tradition.
The most prevalent myth, however, tells of how two fishermen, one Chinese and one Malay, were shipwrecked during the ninth lunar month many years ago.
Seeing their adversity, a giant tortoise turned itself into an island to provide a sanctuary for them to land on.
Today, Taoists mark the legendary rescue by the tortoise with an annual pilgrimage. From mid-October each year, they flock to the island's landmark Da Bo Gong Temple (God of Prosperity) by the thousands.
The temple was built in 1923. Devotees of all ages come to burn offerings & pray to the deities there, including the Goddess of Mercy, for prosperity. The temple has a 'Wishing Well' in the shape of a lotus flower.
Devotees try to hit the 3 bells inside the well with coins to make their wishes come true. In another popular ritual, they tie a symbolic red string around a piece of folded paper containing their wish, then hurl it high into a 'Wishing Tree'.
It is believed that the higher up the tree you wish lands, the higher your chances of having it come true.
Another landmark is a Malay shrine, Kramat Kusu, commemorating a pious man (Syed Abdul Rahman), his mother (Nenek Ghalib) & sister (Puteri Fatimah) who lived in the 19th century.
Many devotees will climb the 152 steps leading to the Kramats to pray. The shrine is so famous for answering childless couples' prayers for fertility that both Muslims and non-Muslims visit the shrine year round.
Daily ferry
service leaves the Santosa Ferry terminal for Kusu Island
Tour.
Worlstravel4indians.com offers the best information
about Kusu Island Tours and other attractions in Singapore
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