Singapore Tourist Attractions: Little India

Popular Singapore tourist attractions are districts originally built to accommodate all the new settlers and are now lovely spots to visit.

One district not to be missed in Singapore is Little India which stretches along the Serangoon Road. This is where Indian immigrants found refuge when coming to this country. Consequently, you will be overwhelmed by Indian decorations, religious statues, specific scents of saffron, aromatic burning sticks with jasmine, and other floral arrangements all around.

There are typical Indian shops and small alleys, and once you find yourself here, it will be hard to believe that only four percent of the Singapore population are Indians (while Chinese make up the majority of 80%).

There will be small bags of spices mixture to buy depending on the meal you are preparing that day. You can find piles of colorful traditional ‘sarees’ and beautifully decorated silver jewelry pieces.

Singapore Tourist Attractions

Singapore Attraction Place: Little India

There is also the Hindu temple that allows tourists’ visits and where you are supposed to take off your shoes to get in, pay the ticket (if you want to take pictures), and try to avoid areas where worshipers are praying.

 

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Strolling around the courtyard you will feel like stepping onto Indian soil and will be amazed by the fact that ethnic authenticity is so well preserved in this city.

There will be women wearing colorful sarong dresses with typical ‘bindi’ dots on their foreheads. Men were waiting to kneel before the huge statue of Sri Aravan in the courtyard, while people inside were on their knees or lying face down on the pavement… These are the genuine Singapore tourist attractions one shouldn’t miss.

This is one of the most popular Hindu temples in Singapore – Sri Mariamman. When I first saw it through the taxi window, I was so impressed that I tried to remember the surroundings so that I could find it the next day.

Luckily, one of the neighboring streets is called Temple Street and it wasn’t hard to navigate. Also, not that far from this Hindu temple, there is an imposing Buddhist one, so it would be impossible to miss them both.

Singapore Flags

Little India houses the whole residential area with numerous high buildings. Although drying laundry outside is against the law in Singapore, the strings with clothes are tolerated in this district.

People came up with the idea to put long sticks through their windows and spread their laundry along those sticks. Locals often joke about it, calling them the “Singapore flags”.

There is a residential Chinese area nearby with numerous shops. These buildings are so colorful – yellow, white, and red.

Stroll a bit further and you will end up in the Arabic district with typical houses, small stores, a few men busy with their crafts, and mosques. Since the Muslim population makes up about 14% of Singapore, there are numerous Islamic temples to be found, along with Al Falah Mosque on Orchard Road at the ground level of a tall business building.

I was surprised that the Muslim call to prayer was still loud when passing by Al Falah Mosque, even though the noise of the traffic and crowds outside were overwhelming.

The list of Singapore tourist attractions consists of the heritage of all three nations and make sure to spend time visiting them accordingly.

Best Attractions in Singapore: Chinatown

Parts of Singapore will continue to surprise you. The city is probably “too much to the East”, at least when coming from Europe, so the tradition that is appreciated here is one that we only come across from time to time and do not know that much about, and maybe even take lightly.

Just imagine that you build the whole quarter according to Feng Shui.

These buildings were not equally high. Looking from above, they formed the shape of the hand palm with its “fingers” (buildings) pointing to the sky. The point is for the “palm” to bring in all the energy so that business can bloom. And yes, this is the business district.

Singapore is constantly being modernized and rebuilt. Locals told me that I would be surprised how much the city may change only in a year. Some of them love it, some are against it, but still, they say that this way “one can never claim to have seen Singapore, no matter how many times he visits”.

That is exactly how I feel whenever I come across recent photos of the city. First, I try to locate a building or a place in my mind but then I remember that this is Singapore we are talking about. Everything that was there last year is just “old news” today.

I should probably go back soon to check out some new Singapore tourist attractions.

Next: PEANUTS AND COCKTAILS AT RAFFLES’ (5)

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