Built in the 1860s by skilled craftsmen from southern India, this large complex is emblazoned with color. While the hub of this community is Little India, a vibrant neighbourhood 1.8mi (3km) north of Sri Mariamman, its heart beats in this temple, Singapore’s oldest Hindu place of worship. There are about 300,000 Hindus in Singapore, most of whom are ethnically Indian. I am being looked down on by a crowd of Hindu gods, kings, and queens sculpted on the stone Gopuram tower that marks the entrance to Sri Mariamman Hindu temple. During the week-long Chinese New Year festival visitors can watch as worshippers offer fortune rice buckets to the spirit of the Jade Emperor. Thian Hock Keng is also a popular tourist attraction due to its majestic, traditional Chinese architecture, embellished by a curved, multi-tiered roof, decorative eaves, and vibrant murals. It remains a functioning temple, as about 10% of Singapore’s population is Taoist. The first waves of Chinese to move to Singapore would come here to honor Mazu for shepherding them safely across the ocean from their motherland. This was Singapore’s first Chinese temple and is devoted to Mazu, the Taoist Goddess of the Sea. Having visited dozens of Taoist sites across Asia, I was familiar with the religion’s fearsome “door gods” painted on the wooden entrance to Thian Hock Keng Temple. They brought with them the ancient Taoist religion, which has been practiced in China for 1,900 years. Thian Hock Keng Temple (Taoist)īritain’s colonization of Singapore prompted an influx of Chinese migrants, who soon became the nation’s dominant ethnic group. To help visitors adhere to the mosque’s dress code, long robes can be borrowed at its entrance. The best time to visit this mosque is during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan when it is surrounded by a night market. Image credit: Ronan O'Connellīoth of those features are key elements of the mosque’s Indo-Saracenic architecture, a brilliant blend of European Gothic and Indian Mughal designs pioneered by British architects in the 1800s.
I was entranced by the way the sun glinted off this mosque’s two giant gilded domes, rising above rows of ornate arched windows. This dynasty’s former palace is now home to the Malay Heritage Centre, which is just 200ft (60m) away from Singapore’s most important and spectacular mosque, the Sultan Masjid. It’s fitting then, that Singapore’s oldest neighborhood is Kampong Glam, the former headquarters of a Malay Islamic dynasty. Image credit: Ronan O'Connell Sultan Mosque (Islam)īefore Singapore became a British colony, for centuries it was predominantly Islamic, controlled at various times by Malay and Indonesian kings.
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It’s open to visitors from 9am to 4pm each day, and free guided tours can be booked on the St Andrew’s website. This building is just as striking from the outside, thanks to its white-washed façade, complex stonework, and lofty spire. The sun is ferocious in Singapore, and as its rays shone through this Gothic cathedral’s intricately decorated glass windows, I was bathed in a palette of bright colors. Yet this city is renowned for its many stately churches due to the heavy influence of the British, who introduced Christianity when they colonized Singapore from 1826 until 1963 (not including 1942 to 1945 when it was occupied by Japan) when it became part of Malaysia before gaining independence in 1965.Īs an avid fan of stained-glass design, I was beguiled by the interior of Singapore’s largest cathedral, St Andrew’s.
Singapore is home to 5.9 million people, with about 74% of those having Chinese ancestry, followed by Malay (13%) and Indian (9%).
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