My World Tuesday - Haw Par Villa - Ten Courts of Hell Part 1

Highlight of the visit to Haw Par Villa must be the visit to the Ten Courts of Hell in the park. These exhibits have been around for a long time since its opening in 1937. As a child, I was so afraid of the exhibits cause they told many stories that if we did something wrong in our present life, we would suffer when we die. One exhibit I will never forget was when my mom told me if we lied in our present life, when we die, we would be punished to hell and have our tongue extracted out. I guess was one way one parent back then used to educate the child not to lie hahahaha. When I was a parent, I also taught my kids the same thing and it actually worked, maybe for a few years hahahaha. The concept of the "Ten Courts of Hell" began after Chinese folk religions were influenced by Buddhism. In Chinese mythology, the Jade Emperor put King Yama in charge of overseeing the affairs of Diyu. In fact some were cold hells, other were dark and yet others were miscellaneous hells. There were 12,800 hells located under the earth, eight dark hells, eight cold ones and 84,000 miscellaneous ones located at the edge of the universe. All people will go to hell but the length of stay will vary depending on the severity of the crime and all will eventually be reborn. In the meantime souls will pass from stage to stage all at the decision of King Yama. King Yama also reduced the number hells down to ten. King Yama later divided Diyu into ten courts, each overseen by a "Yama King", while King Yama remained the sovereign ruler of hell. (Source: wikipedia) You might like to read more about the Ten Courts of Hell. For photos on other parts of the world, please visit Our World Tuesday Meme. Thanks to the team of Our World for giving us the opportunity to share my world with the rest of the world.