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Attraction:
Little India
Little India is one of the most
genuine districts in Singapore. The colorfulness and
cheerfulness of this district derived from its being as a
shopping arcade. Little India is located on Serangoon Road
(built in 1828) from Rochor Canal to Levender Street.
Just like Orchard Road, Little
India is also subdivided, yet into 4 parts; Lower Serangoon
Road; Central Serangoon Road; Upper Serangoon Road; and the Arab
Quarter.
Lower Serangoon
Road
In Lower Serangoon Road, there are
many places worth the full exploration. Many temples and
shophouses located beyond Kitchener Road, a real shopping arcade
in Little India. The special tip that visitors ought to know is
that you should visit Little India at dawn as to avoid shopping
among the crowd as well as with the heat. Your trip should start
at Little India Arcade where handicrafts, arts, and Indian
culture can be seen; then head to Zhujiao Food center by walking
across the street, here you can try Indian and Chinese dishes at
extremely cheap prices; if the word "cheap" sounds
unsuitable for you, then let's move to Komala Villas on
Serangoon Road which serves delicious Indian food on the
upstairs while the first floor is the take-away counter; when
you're already full, let's explore more by walking across
Serangoon Road and stop at Buffalo Road for traditional shops,
electronics supply stores, or even fortunetellers can be found
here; next highlight is just across the street, Kerbau Road and
Belilios Lane where Indian restaurants, Sri Lakshmi Hindu Temple
and inexpensive food stall are located; after finishing with
this place, let's get back to the Little India Arcade and head
to Campbell Lane to sight and feel the heart & soul of
Little India, Kampong Kapor is the small alleys behind Little
India divided into many lanes where shophouses selling spices,
palm sugar, flower garlands, statues of Hindu deities, jewelry,
and etc are opened to welcome everyone; and finally going back
to Serangoon Road at Belilios Road stands a Hindu Temple
"Sri Veerama Kaliamman," constructed in 1881. This
temple is really worth the visit if you go to Little India.
Central
Serangoon Road
Heading up Serangoon Road through
Kitchener will lead you to Central Serangoon Road where many
Indian cafes, clothing shops, and hardware stores are sited.
While the highlights are Asian Women's Welfare Association
located at 9 Norris Road was established in 1935 for exhibiting
the mixture of Art Deco, North Indian, and Chinese-inspired
fish-scale designs; Gandhi Memorial laid by Indian prime
minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1950 and is sited behind the
Broadway Hotel; and a modern S$48 million dollar shopping
complex located at Serangoon and Syed Alwi Roads.
Upper
Serangoon Road
There are several interesting
places that worth the visit in upper Serangoon Road. The most
interesting one is Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple built in 1855 in
order to attribute to the Hindu deities Sri Srinivasa Perumal.
It was one of the two Hindu temple gazetted as a National
Monument. Only 1 block up northeast on Race Course Road stands
the Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple. There are hundreds of
lightbulbs surrounding an enormous 50-feet high Buddha statue.
The next temple is Leong San Buddhist Temple. Just walk out of
Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple, then cross the road, turn right
and walk to Leong San Buddhist Temple which was constructed in
1800s and is rated as one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples
in Singapore.
The Arab
Quarter
The Arab atmosphere is here as its
community has been settled here even prior to the arrival of Sir
Stamford Raffles. Arab merchants were monopolizing Malaysia and
Singapore at that time and so it leaves still their community
nowadays. Tracing back to 1888, the architects from Swan &
MacLaren built The Church of Our Lady Lourdes in the neo-Gothic
style as of the purpose to be worshipped by the Tamil and the
Chinese Catholics.
Sultan Mosque is the highlight
here as well. It is sited between Bencoolen and Arab Streets. It
was built by the Swan & MacLaren in 1924.
Another sacred place in this
area is Old Malay Cemetery recorded as the oldest Malay
cemetery. Apart from aforementioned interesting places, Arab
quarter still covers more fascination spots such as Malabar
Mosque built in 1819; Alsagoff Arab School that contains several
old buildings; Hajjah Fatimah Mosque designed in 1846 in a
European Classical Style; Istana Kampong Glam built around 1840
for Sultan Ali Iskander Shah; and Arab Street where remained the
old traditional shops selling goods such as imported batiks,
Indonesian brasswork, basketware, jewelry, medicines, and
everything that those Pilgrims to Mecca ever require.
This article is authored and
copyrighted by
Royal Exclusive Travel
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