The abandoned temple of abandoned soldiers

Never in modern times have the inhabitants of Hong Kong been so interested in the wonderful and interesting places scattered all over the territory. Pandemics have brough us an unprecedented thirst to hike and know in detail this unique scene of timeless fight between urban jungle and mighty nature that can be found in Hong Kong. Among these exceptional locations, I would like to present you a rare pearl whose charm will be lost in the forthcoming months.

This spot is the Hindu temple in Burma Lines, a unique construction classified as grade 3, which means it is not yet considered a monument but benefits from a certain protection. And I believe that its charm will be soon gone because now it lays right in the border between the abandoned British barracks known as “Burma Lines Camp”, Fanling, and the soon-to-be-finished 13-block estate “Queen’s Hill Site 1”, not far from the Chinese border.

These days, curious hikers and urbexers may wander for over one hour through the abandoned barracks before actually finding the temple. 33 years of exuberant nature have taken possession of the whole area, which will soon be adjacent to the monstruous public estate. Therefore, do not wait. Go and play Emerald Jungle yourself.

 The temple is not ancient nor elegant, nor it has any decoration left, and yet, the natural wilderness and the abandonment that surrounds it provides a spiritual atmosphere that transforms the visit into unexpected pilgrimage. Soon it will be denatured and devoid of soul. Yet, its history is fascinating.

This Hindu temple was built in 1964 for the worship of Shiba by the soldiers of the military camp, which belonged exclusively to a little known ethnic minority of Hong Kong, the Gurkhas. Nevertheless, the Gurkhas had a long and passionate history with the British Empire. To make it short, the Gorkha Kingdom operated a military expansion in the early 18^th Century to become present-day Nepal. Gurkha soldiers were known among all nations as the fiercest and less death-fearing peoples in the world, and indeed today, Gurkha soldiers, still wearing their traditional knife or kukri, assure the peace in many borders as UNO soldiers, and have participated in the major military campaigns in the last century: Gulf War, Flaklands War, Cyprus, etc.

Inevitably, the British army would clash with Gurkhas in their expansion in the Indian subcontinent, and eventually they were assumed as a major force of the British corps in their war campaigns for more than 200 years. This “elite” troops were kept anachronically as mere war manpower all along the British Empire. In the 8 Hong Kong Gurkha camps, they were not taught any cantonese, to prevent any interaction with the local population and thus preserve their compact identity.

The barracks in Burma Lines Camp were built in 1964, and abandoned in 1996, as part of the handover treaties. Nevertheless, the lack of roads in this area, adjacent to the wild Pat Sin Leng Country Park, made the area unfit for any social use. Therefore, the site was abandoned until the last years, when HK government promoted the building of a huge complex of subsidised housings that would justify the investment in communication infrastructures.

And the Gurkhas…? The Gurkhas still remain as a marginalised community in Hong Kong. Some would appear sadly in the newspaper as homeless, not integrated citizens, with HK IDs but without some rights, speaking English but not Cantonese… many of their children would never attend local school because they could not communicate nor read in the local language, and would not easily access the information about their civic rights. Today, Gurkhas participate to the popular and multicultural Asian atmosphere of Yau Tsing Mong. You will find them between Jordan and Yau Ma Tei, and you can even try their traditional dishes in the Nepalese restaurants opened by their descendants, like “Manakamana” in Temple street. Today, still forgotten by the government, some of them they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them – it’s said that maybe you can hire The Gurkha A-Team.