Little India, Singapore
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Little India ( ta, லிட்டில் இந்தியா) is an ethnic district in Singapore. It is located east of the
Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...
– across from
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
, located west of the river – and north of
Kampong Glam Kampong Glam ( Malay: Kampung Gelam; Jawi: کامڤوڠ ڬلم ; ; Tamil: கம்போங் கிளாம்) is a neighbourhood and ethnic enclave in Singapore. It is located north of the Singapore River, in the planning area of ...
. Both areas are part of the urban planning area of
Rochor Rochor is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area located within the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Rochor shares boundaries with the following planning areas – Kallan ...
. Little India is commonly known as ''Tekka'' in the
Indian Singaporean Indian Singaporeans (Tamil language, Tamil: ') are Singaporeans of Indian people, Indian or South Asian ancestor, ancestry, who constitute 9.0% of the country's citizens, making them the third largest ancestry and ethnic group in Singapore. Wh ...
community.


History

Little India is distinct from the Chulia Kampong area, which, under the
Raffles Plan of Singapore The Jackson Plan or Raffles Town Plan, an urban plan of 1822 titled "Plan of the Town of Singapore", is a proposed scheme for Singapore drawn up to maintain some order in the urban development of the fledgling but thriving colony founded just th ...
, was originally a division of colonial-era Singapore where ethnic Indian immigrants would reside under the plan's outline of the formation of ethnic enclaves. However, as Chulia Kampong became more crowded and competition for land escalated, many ethnic Indians emigrants moved into what is now known as Little India. (The Chulia Kampong district no longer exists as a distinct area.) The Little India area is reported to have developed around a former settlement for Indian
convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
s. Its location along the
Serangoon River Sungei Serangoon ( Malay for Serangoon River; Chinese: 实龙岗河) is a river in the north-eastern part of Singapore. The 8-kilometre river starts as a canal near Tampines Road, and flows through Hougang, where it is joined by tributary Sungei ...
originally made it attractive for raising cattle, and trade in livestock was once prominent in the area. Eventually, other economic activity developed, and by the turn of the 20th century, the area began to look like an ethnic Indian neighbourhood. Little India was the site of a two-hour-long riot on 8 December 2013, after a man was killed in a traffic accident. 27 people were injured, and 40 people were arrested.


Culture

Although ethnic Indians no longer tend to stay solely segregated in one place as previously arranged under the modern
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and ...
(PAP) policy of racial harmony, for the sake of cultural heritage, many of the ethnically Indian commercial or
cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...
usages are concentrated in Little India, although Indian-dominant commercial zones are also found in HDB estates. Contrary to stereotypes, Little India is not solely an Indian neighbourhood. Located in the neighbourhood alongside shops that cater predominantly to the Indians are Chinese clan associations, places of worship of different religions, and a variety of different business ranging from electrical supplies, hardware, second-hand goods alongside traditional spice grinders and grocers. One of the more prominent examples of cross-cultural patronage besides those regarding food is that many
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
parents go to shops in Little India to grind rice to make
congee Congee or conjee ( ) is a type of rice porridge or gruel eaten in Asian countries. It can be eaten plain, where it is typically served with side dishes, or it can be served with ingredients such as meat, fish, seasonings and flavourings, most o ...
for
infant An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
s. The machinery used in this instance was initially flown in from India to grind
spices A spice is a seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garni ...
into
powder A powder is a dry, bulk solid composed of many very fine particles that may flow freely when shaken or tilted. Powders are a special sub-class of granular materials, although the terms ''powder'' and ''granular'' are sometimes used to distin ...
for use in
Indian cuisine Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, he ...
.
Tekka Centre Tekka Centre is a multi-use building complex comprising a wet market, food centre and shops, located in the northern corner of Bukit Timah Road and Serangoon Road, in Little India, Singapore next to Little India MRT station. Etymology and hist ...
is also multi-cultural, with produce and sundries that cater to the many ethnic groups in Singapore.


Features

Serangoon Road is the main commercial thoroughfare in Little India. It intersects Rochor Canal Road and Bukit Timah Sungei Road. Along Serangoon Road is the
Tekka Centre Tekka Centre is a multi-use building complex comprising a wet market, food centre and shops, located in the northern corner of Bukit Timah Road and Serangoon Road, in Little India, Singapore next to Little India MRT station. Etymology and hist ...
, the Tekka Mall, the Little India Arcade, Serangoon Plaza, and the
Mustafa Centre Mustafa Centre is the shopping mall on Syed Alwi Road in the cultural district of Little India, within the planning area of Kallang. Within a walking distance from Farrer Park station on the North East line, Mustafa Centre is a retail hub attra ...
(on a side-road). Farrer Park Fields is located in the district. Several Hindu temples, mosques, and other place of worship include Far Kor Sun Monkey God Temple, Foochow Methodist Church,
Kampong Kapor Methodist Church Kampong Kapor Methodist Church (Abbreviation: KKMC) is located on Kampong Kapor Road in Singapore's Little India district. The church is approximately 300 metres from Jalan Besar MRT station. Founded in 1894, KKMC is one of the first Peranakan c ...
which was completed in 1929,
Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple ( ta, ஸ்ரீ வீரமாகாளியம்மன் கோவில்; Chinese: 维拉马卡拉曼庙), also known earlier as Soonambu Kambam Kovil'','' is a Hindu temple located in the middle of Little ...
, Angullia Mosque,
Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple The Sri Vadapathira Kaliamman Temple is a temple located at Little India in Singapore. History The temple is believed to have started around 1830s with a picture of the goddess, under a tree near the current site of the temple. The presidi ...
, Jalan Mosque, and the Central
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
Gurdwara. The Abdul Gafoor Mosque, built in 1859 and named after a
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
lawyer's
clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
, features
Arabian The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
- and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
-style architecture. Its prayer hall, decorated with Moorish arch-work, displays a tableau featuring the history of the Islamic religion. The Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, along Serangoon Road, features a high
gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Malayalam: ഗോപുരം, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Telugu: గోపురం) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the South I ...
(tower), and was built in 1855. The Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple, along Race Course Road, was established by Thai monk Vuthisasara in 1927. Leong San See Temple is built in 1917 and is dedicated to Guanyin, Bodhisattva of Compassion. Little India also features a few art houses. In 1985, the National Arts Council introduced the Arts Housing Scheme. This scheme sought to identify and refurbish old buildings for arts and cultural purposes. In Little India, a line of shophouses along Kerbau Road was identified to be suitable for the scheme. This is known as the Little India Arts Belt. In 2011, there are seven arts organizations in the Little India Arts Belt. three were contemporary theatre companies while the other organizations involve traditional arts such as Malay dance and Indian theatre.


Transport

The area is served by the following
MRT MRT may refer to: Transport Rapid Transit Systems * Mass Rapid Transit (disambiguation) * MRT (Singapore) or Mass Rapid Transit, Singapore * MRT (Bangkok) or Metropolitan Rapid Transit, Thailand * Manila Metro Rail Transit System, Philippine ...
stations:
Little India Little India or India Town (less commonly known as Indian Street or India Bazaar) is an Indian or Desi (South Asian) sociocultural environment outside India or the subcontinent. It especially refers to an area with Indian residences and a dive ...
,
Farrer Park Farrer Park is a subzone of the Rochor planning area in the Central Region of Singapore, bounded by Serangoon Road, Rangoon Road, Race Course Road, Northumberland Road, Tekka Lane and Bukit Timah Road. This article is about the Farrer Park ...
on the
North East line The North East MRT line (NEL) is a high-capacity Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line in Singapore. Operated by SBS Transit, it is the shortest MRT line at . The line runs from HarbourFront station in southern Singapore to Punggol station in the n ...
, and
Rochor Rochor is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area located within the Central Area, Singapore, Central Area of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Rochor shares boundaries with the following planning areas – Kallan ...
and
Jalan Besar Jalan Besar (; literally "Large Road" in Malay, but taken to mean "Main Road") is a one-way road in Singapore, connecting Lavender Street in Kallang and Rochor Canal Road in Rochor Rochor is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area locate ...
on the Downtown line. Bus services 23, 64, 65, 67, 131, 139, 147, and 857 pass through Little India via Serangoon Road.


See also

* Collapse of the Hotel New World *
City Square Mall City Square Mall (Chinese: 城市广场; Pinyin: Chéng Shì Guǎng Chǎng) is Singapore's first eco-mall to be integrated with a urban park named City Green, located within the planning area of Kallang. The mall sits on the site of Singapore' ...
*
Jalan Besar Jalan Besar (; literally "Large Road" in Malay, but taken to mean "Main Road") is a one-way road in Singapore, connecting Lavender Street in Kallang and Rochor Canal Road in Rochor Rochor is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area locate ...
*
New World Amusement Park The New World Amusement Park () was the first of three amusement parks, along with Great World (estd. early 1930s) and Gay World (estd. 1936), that wooed Malaya and Singapore night crowds from the 1920s to the 1960s. New World was a prominen ...
*
The Verge, Singapore The Verge, formerly Tekka Mall, ( Chinese: 德卡廊), was the first and largest modern shopping mall at the Little India precinct in Singapore, being opened in 2003. The Verge had two buildings, the main building and Chill @ The Verge. It was l ...


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Downtown Core (Singapore) Ethnic enclaves in Singapore Indian diaspora in Singapore
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
Protected areas of Singapore Places in Singapore Rochor Kallang