between 1920 and 1921, the monastery was built on the a plot of land in thomson road that was donated by tay woo seng, a chinese businessmen. it was the first traditional chinese forest monastery to be built in singapore. its name was taken from kong meng san ("bright hill", formerly "hai nan mountain"), the place where the monastery is located at. the original temple consisted of a two-storey building, a shrine room, a visitors' room and living quarters.