Tag Archives: Tanjong Katong

Singapore – Tanjong Katong’s Sri Senpaga Vinayar Temple

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The Sri Senpaga Vinayar temple was not on my agenda. I came upon it while making my way down yet another side street in Tanjong Katong. It was charming–almost modest compared to some Hindu temples, with its ornamentation largely in shades of ochre rather than in technicolor.

I felt drawn to it, and it was more than just the sudden outpouring of monsoon rain that made me decide to go in.

 

I cannot begin to explain this imagery, but I will say that I find it graceful and attractive. And the couple of worshippers who helped me to learn where to leave my shoes were kind and welcoming.

 

Actually, I do know a bit about this last one. That’s the god Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati. He’s a popular god, since he is the remover of obstacles and lord of new beginnings.

The Sri Senpaga Vinayar Temple dates back to the 1850s, when a vinayar (elephant god) image was found under a senpaga tree by a small stream. From these humble beginnings grew a graceful and welcoming temple, home to the Ceylonese Tamil community in the area.

Inside and out, the temple was plastered with homilies and admonitions. Perhaps as much as anything, it was the kindness of these that drew me to the place.

"It takes a lot of courage to be happy all the time" "No better advice than the father's"

"A mother's love and care and gratitude in return"

I will end this last post about Singapore, and the last in the long series of posts about Southeast Asia, with this quote from the Sri Senpaga Vinayar temple:

“Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. Hinduism is a way of life, a system of life values, and feeling of equal respect for all religions. Everyone is deemed a Hindu. There is no conversion required.”

 

Singapore – Tanjong Katong shophouses

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Why, you may ask, did I visit a Singapore neighborhood that is so far off the beaten track that it’s hardly mentioned in the the tourist guides at all? There was one bad reason and several good ones. The bad reason is that I was avoiding visiting Orchard Road, the number one attraction in many tourist guides, and I had already walked to all the other places I wanted to see that were within walking distance.

The good reason is precisely that Tanjong Katong is off the beaten track and home to an ethnic mix of people I knew almost nothing about–a chance to see real Singapore, not just the tourist stuff. Also, the neighborhood is historically interesting. And (according to my sources) it has some of the most beautiful shop houses in all of Singapore.

Joo Chiat Street is a main shopping street in the area, lined on both sides with shop houses mostly in the ornate Peranakan style, dating from the early twentieth century. The area has been named an historic district.

   

Most of the shophouses are two stories tall, but some are three stories.

The detailing is extraordinary.

By law, shophouses are required to provide a ground-level covered arcade of a uniform width (I believe it’s five or seven feet) to protect pedestrians from the sun and from the monsoon rains. This arcade provides a pleasant walkway in an otherwise dense environment, built up to the street edge.

 

Although the typical shophouse style is to have shops on the ground level and residences above, there are many cases where shops have taken over the second floor as well.

Conversely, on quieter streets the shophouses have lost the shops, becoming residential on both stories. Some of these rows of houses are quite charming.