Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore

Two windows a day with a long afternoon closure between them, a later close on Fridays, and a pooja schedule that runs on slightly different times.

Sri Mariamman Temple was built in 1827 for worship by immigrants from the Nagapatnam and Cuddalore districts of South India, and was popularly known at the time as Mariamman Kovil or Kling Street Temple. Its founder, Naraina Pillai, was a clerk with the East India Company in Penang who came to Singapore with Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, set up the island's first brick kiln and became a leader of the Indian community.

The first temple, of wood and attap, was replaced by a plaster and brick building in 1843. The National Heritage Board notes that the grant of the site was written into Singapore's first town plan, drawn up by Lieutenant Philip Jackson, and that a fire in 1910 destroyed the attap-covered walkway, replaced in 1915 by a sheltered walkway designed by Swan & Maclaren.

The gopuram over the entrance has been rebuilt more than once. The temple's own history says the original, from the late 1800s, carried little ornament, was rebuilt in the 1930s and was restored with its dense sculpture in the 1960s, while the National Heritage Board dates the replacement of the earlier three-tiered tower to 1925. In 1962 a new temple structure was completed with sculptural work in the style of temple architecture in India.

The first recorded kumbabishegam, the consecration ceremony, was held in June 1936, followed by others in June 1949, on 6 June 1971, 6 September 1984 and 19 May 1996. The temple was gazetted as a National Monument on 6 July 1973, reconsecrated in 2010 after a year-long restoration, and most recently consecrated at a Maha Kumbabishegam on 12 February 2023.

Founded

1827, by Naraina Pillai

Status

National Monument since 6 July 1973

Architecture

Dravidian, with an entrance gopuram

Presiding deity

Mariamman

Main festival

Theemithi, October or November

Last consecration

12 February 2023

Why Sri Mariamman Temple matters to Hindus

The presiding deity is Mariamman, a South Indian mother goddess whom the temple describes as known for her power in curing epidemic illnesses and diseases; the National Heritage Board adds that she is associated with life-giving rain. The small image of her that Naraina Pillai installed in 1827, known as Sinna Amman, is still in the main sanctum, so worship here runs in an unbroken line back to the temple's founding.

Among the other shrines is one to Draupadi, the heroine of the Mahabharata, who is at the centre of Theemithi, the temple's main festival. Held every year in October or November, it honours her with a procession of about four kilometres and a ceremony in which devotees walk barefoot across burning charcoal. The temple names Navarathiri and the 1008 Sankabishegam as its other important festivals.

More facts about Sri Mariamman

Deity

Mariamman, known for her power in curing epidemic illnesses and diseases

Founded

1827, by Naraina Pillai

Address

244 South Bridge Road, Singapore 058793

Managed by

Hindu Endowments Board

Status

National Monument, gazetted on 6 July 1973

Oldest brick structure

Around 1843

Main festival

Theemithi, the firewalking ceremony, held annually in October or November

Last consecration

Maha Kumbabishegam on 12 February 2023

Also known as

Mariamman Kovil, Kling Street Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple Chinatown, Singapore Hindu temple South Bridge Road

The etiquette page also sets out how to behave inside, and it is more specific than most temples manage.

Published by the Hindu Endowments Board on the temple's etiquette page, quoted closely.

• Shoulders must be covered, which is easily done with a scarf or a shawl.
• Trousers or skirts must cover at least the knees.
• It is best to avoid anything too tight, too short and too revealing; generally it is better to wear too much rather than too little.
• For those who are not appropriately dressed, temples do provide shawls, cover-ups and wraps.
• Footwear should be removed outside the temple, where a space is designated for it.

Mornings and evenings. The temple's home page gives operating hours of 6:00am to 12:00pm and 6:00pm to 9:00pm, running to 9.15pm on Fridays, with nothing in between, so the middle of the afternoon is the time a visit is most likely to find it closed. The daily pooja schedule on the same site lists earlier openings, 5.30am and 4.00pm, but until the two pages agree the safe window is the overlap.

To see the temple at worship, time a visit to a pooja: Morning Temple Poojai at 7.00am and Evening Temple Poojai at 6.00pm, or 6.30am and 5.30pm on Fridays. Anyone wanting an archanai offering made should arrive before archanai closes at 11.30am, or at 8.30pm in the evening, 9.00pm on Fridays.

Theemithi, in October or November, is the temple's biggest occasion, but the temple states that timings may change during festivals and does not publish the changed hours, so check before going at that time of year.

Tips before you go

• Cover your shoulders, with a scarf or shawl if need be, and wear trousers or a skirt that reaches at least the knees.
• Remove your footwear outside the temple, in the space set aside for it.
• Do not enter the shrines or sanctums, and do not sit with your feet pointing towards the deities, the priests or other people.
• Keep your voice down and avoid hugging or other displays of affection between adults.
• Book temple services online at least 48 hours ahead; for shorter notice, contact the temple administrator.
• Arrive before 11.30am or 8.30pm if you want an archanai offering made.

The temple's own history and the National Heritage Board tell the same story, and it explains why a Hindu temple stands in the middle of Chinatown.

Why South Bridge Road

The temple was the idea of Naraina Pillai, a clerk from Penang who came to Singapore with Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. The first plot allotted for a Hindu temple, on Telok Ayer Street, had no convenient supply of fresh water for rituals, and a second site near today's Stamford Canal was taken back by the town planners.

The South Bridge Road site was granted in 1823, and a temple of wood and attap stood there by 1827. The small deity installed that year, Sinna Amman, is still in the main sanctum.

More than a place of worship

The temple sheltered newly arrived immigrants until they found work and somewhere to live, and for a time it was the registry of marriages for Hindus, when only its priest was authorised to solemnise Hindu weddings.

Its gopuram gave the neighbouring streets their names. Pagoda Street takes its name from the tower, which to the Chinese population resembled a pagoda, and Temple Street from the temple itself.