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What travellers are saying
- Michael ULas Vegas, NV49,257 contributionsBuilt in 2007 at a cost of $75,000,000 Singapore dollars this Tang-styled Temple resides prominently in Chinatown. Home to thousands of statues, two museums and a lot of scripture believers will be drawn to the enormous gold vessel reportedly home to Buddha's left canine tooth. Free to visit.Written 8 March 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- WikumjRedhill, UK444 contributionsStrikingly designed building that looks as if it's straight out of Arabian Nights! Not a must see but if you're in the Kampong Glam area, worth travelling past for pics from the outside and a brief look inside the prayer roomWritten 2 June 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Armağan & HuyHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam9,138 contributionsThis temple in the heart of Chinatown is Singapore’s oldest temple for the Hindu faith. It is adorned with deity’s in vibrant colours. We did not spend much time there today as there was a wedding taking place.
It is worth visiting even just to admire the statues of the deities. It is very special.Written 26 January 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - TualieVarese, Italy1,616 contributionsOK, read that the one located in Chinatown is the oldest but visited this one in case we couldn’t make it to visit the other and happy that we did it! In bustling Little India, easy to locate on a busy street, this site housed a shrine built in the 1880’s by Bengali pioneers. The shrine was (and still it is) dedicated to the goddess Kali; nowaday looks are from 1983 with the Dravidian style gopura (the monumental tower entrance full of colorful statues). Shoes are to be left outside; inside is full of visitors, devotees worshipping and we saw interesting rituals that we wished to have a guide or friend who could explain all that to us.Written 23 September 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Peter SRome, Italy4,927 contributionsReview of Thian Hock Keng Temple, 158 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore
Exit Telok Ayer MRT station on the corner of the intersection with Cross Street and head south along Telok Ayer Street (towards the Amoy Street Food Centre). Stay on the same side of the street. You’re heading towards the high-rise buildings of the modern CBD along what used to be the extent of the original shoreline.
Five minutes/170 m later the road opens out with three-story early 20th C. buildings on both sides of the road until you arrive opposite Thian Hock Keng Temple. There’s this gorgeous completely out-of-place Chinese architectural structure lining the other side of the street with a wavy roofline seemingly imitating the surf that once pounded the beaches hereabouts. The colours are all green and gold and match the handful of trees along the street. Ornamental dragons dance along the apex of the roof symbolising the justice, power and strength of the Temple.
There’s a description of the Temple attached to the wall that provides some historical background. It also gives that raison d’être for being there; Chinese migrants arriving safely in sea vessels at their first place of embarkation >200 years ago and pleased to give thanks to the Sea Goddess Mazu. Stories and legends relate to the cult of Mazu/Mazuism from the 12th C. on with the majority of modern followers based upon the coastal Chinese province of Fuji and migrant communities in SE Asia – particularly the island of Taiwan.
The Temple of Heavenly Happiness (in English translation) was first established in 1821 in a joss house – a simple hut built of local materials before the dedicated temple building was constructed 20 years later. Regular investment with rebuilding, renovation and maintenance followed during the next 180 years with support from local communities. In turn, the original buildings were used for community, social and educational purposes as Singapore developed. The Temple was substantially renovated 25 years ago – such that it gained UNESCO heritage recognition. On 06 July 1973 – 50 years ago – the Temple was gazetted a National Monument.
Inside and out, the design and decorative nature of the buildings overwhelm visitors unfamiliar with temples. The Temple has a traditional three-hall design – Entrance, Main and Rear. Enter by the main door off the street – with a small door on either side – into the Entrance Hall and through into the Main Hall. Here is where you find the shrine of Mazu with a supportive deity on either side. This is where the majority of worshippers gather.
Take time to wander the courtyard at the rear including the two covered walkways opposite one to the other – carved pillars, decorated ceilings with hanging lights and floors with patterned tiles. Everything clean, well-presented and brilliantly coloured – reflecting original classical Southern Chinese architecture. On either side of the temple are pagodas.
The temple overwhelms with the intricate detail of design, construction and meaning – much of this based upon the concept of feng shui. This is a Chinese system for positioning a building and the objects within the building such that they agree with the associated spiritual forces which brings health and happiness to believers. Scattered around the temple are several shrines dedicated to different deities, and side halls available for private meditation.
We had the Temple largely to ourselves – there were a few visitors most of whom appeared to be slowly wandering around. The place was peaceful/quiet, but you could pick up the noise from the commercial shops, vehicles and people outside on Telok Ayer Street.
It had been an interesting visit – typical of the uninitiated. It would have been useful to have had a pamphlet or guidebook to provide an introduction to those of us unfamiliar with the design, purpose, objectivity/meaning of the different features, etc. within the Temple.
Peter Steele
11 October 2024Written 18 November 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - SOH KIEN PENGSingapore, Singapore10,010 contributionsIt was drizzling when we came, but our mood was not dampened by the rain. A visit to the Kuan Yin Temple is a must to seek good luck and fortune for the coming snake year. To a Buddhist, the Goddess of Kuan Yin symbolizes compassion and love.
While the Snake Year is clouded with uncertainties, many devotees believe that Goddess Kuan Yin will shield everyone from bad luck and any unforeseen calamities ahead. Just like in the book 'Journey to the West', the Goddess Kuan Yin sent the invincible and powerful Monkey God (Sun Wu Kong), to escort the eminent monk, Xuan Zan and pave the way for the latter in his tumultuous pilgrimage to the West, buddhists believe that she would also sow the seeds of peace and harmony in the coming Snake Year.
The Kuan Yin Temple is located side by side with the Sri Krishnan Temple and many devotees crossed from Kuan Yin Temple to Sri Krishnan Temple and vice versa to pray, reflecting the harmonious relationship in a multicultural society in Singapore.
Between Chinatown and Waterloo Street, I chose to bring my club members to come here for Chinese New Year shopping. The nearby Albert Complex Wholesale Centre is reputedly one of the best places to shop for the reasonabky priced preserved and dried sundries like shitake Mushrooms, Abalone, sea cucumber, Xinjiang red dates, dried ikan bilis, shrimps, Korean persimmon, etc.
The hawker centre below the wholesale centre is also famous for her rice cakes, Lor Mee, Yong Tau Foo, Bak Kut Teh, Ipoh Hor Fun. The nearby OG Department Store and Bugis Junction also provided another avenue to shop for new year garments and decorative accessories.
The Temple has a long history and was built in 1884. The neighbourhood here has a rich heritage and is a must visit to tourists visiting Singapore.Written 13 January 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Sek Kong Un1 contributionI was ordained a monk here in 1975, converting from Hinayana Buddhism in Thailand to Chan Buddhism under sifu Ven. Hong Choon, along with another Westerner … from Adelaide SA, Australia. I had a very loving relationship with Hong Choon, based our seeing eye to eye over the Sutra of Hui Neng, Sixth Patriarch. In 1992 sifu wrote to me in Australia, asking if I would be the abbot of a new temple in Sydney. I declined his offer then, stating tat I still had unanswered questions about enlightened mind. Hong Choon nd Kong Meng San have always been one and the same for me, a great blessing. He was an understanding father, a compassionate bodhisattva, a merciful and generous human being and I loved him like my own father. But these days are now long ago. I only recognise a few of the older buildings, and yet, today’s Kong Meng San truly shows the passion of my sifu’s desire for people to place the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and spiritual liberation of one’s own original mind first in their precious human lives. Kong Meng San temple and global role is the child of the pervasive enlightenment of the beautiful monk, Sek Hong Choon and his sifu.Written 12 January 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Brix510San Jose, CA951 contributionsThis temple is very colorful and peaceful - it is in a busy area and there are many things to do and eat in the area. Worth a quick stop to get some cultural exposure and see the many wonderful sculptures and other artifacts in the temple.Written 6 July 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- ReslimpanRayong, Thailand3,803 contributionsI more or less stumbled across this temple after visiting Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho temple, a Chinese Buddhist temple nearby. Sri Krishnan temple caught my attention and in I went to take a look. Very nice ornate temple built in 1870. An interesting fact is that The Sri Krishnan Temple and the nearby Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple are known for a practice termed "cross-worshipping", where many devotees of either temple also worship at the other.Written 9 March 2025This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Mesh2 contributionsThere are many beautiful temples in Singapore but this has to be the largest and grandest of all. Really worth a 2-3 hour walk. There is much history in Shuang Lin Temple and it is advisable that one brings a guide book or engage a guide to really know the place.Written 17 February 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Lost In AsiaSingapore, Singapore3,587 contributionsThe temple was originally set up by Venerable Vutthisara of Thailand. The present premises are located at Race Course Road in Singapore.
The Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple is one of the most prominent and widely visited Buddhist temples in Singapore, often referred to as the Temple of 1,000 Lights. It features a 15-meter high statue of a seated Buddha, which weighs nearly 300 tons, as well as many smaller Buddha images and murals depicting the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. The large central statue is surrounded by a stylized aura made of numerous light bulbs—often lit during evening hours—from which the temple derives its nickname. In a small room beneath the altar is an image of a reclining Buddha, Buddha towards the end of his life, under a Yellow Saraka Tree.
On Vesak Day, the annual holiday celebrating the birth and enlightenment of the Buddha, devotees donate money to the temple and in exchange are allowed to place gold leaf onto a small statue of the Buddha. As the day wears on, the Buddha is almost entirely covered in a fresh layer of gold leaves.
The temple is open between 8.00 am and 4.45 pm daily.
Admission is free.Written 29 December 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - i_am_zimQC178 contributionsI’ve been meaning to visit the temple for a while now. The carvings of the facade and their colors, from what i glimpsed from the main road looked quite interesting. I decided to drop by this very sunny morning. The light and the backdrop of blue skies resulted in some really great pictures.
Pls make sure to wear proper attire - no shorts, no short skirts so that you can enter the temple. The staff were friendly and accomodating.Written 9 September 2020This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - TaherAlbaghliJulianKuwait City, Kuwait1,908 contributionsThis mosque is situated in Singapore's Little India neighborhood and is one of the country's national monuments. This magnificent Singapore mosque was originally constructed of wood in 1859 to service the residents who had come from Southern India. In 1881 the mosque was made official and a waqf or endowment in Islamic law was granted to use the land for religious purposes. The mosque was put in the hands of two trustees, Ismail Mansor and Abdul Gaffoor.
It is a small mosque .However,The desgin is amazing.It one of the oldest Mosque
in Singaphore and I enjoyed there.Written 29 March 2019This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Brown_SamanthaKennewick, WA1,860 contributionsWe did not tour the interior, only admired the mosque architecture from outside as we explored Little India on foot.
Very simple colors of white and green, really stood out in the neighborhood. You can see the prominent onion-shaped domes with a crescent moon/star at the top. Took some nice photographs, worth the stop for us.Written 20 March 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Wandering TravelerBridgeboro, GA2,535 contributionsIt's a beautiful facility and it was a pleasure to look at it. I was there during services and was unable to see the inside.Written 8 June 2017This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
