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Video clipping is about a old Murugan temple in Singapore.
Sri Thendayuthapani Temple,
15, Tank Road, Singapore - 238065.
Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, commonly referred to as the Chettiars’ Temple, is one of Singapore’s oldest Hindu temples dedicated to Murugan, the Hindu deity who is also known as Sri Thendayuthapani. It stands as a living testimony to the Chettiars’ contributions to Singapore’s colonial economy.
Nattukottai Chettiars
Hailing from the Chettinad region in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the Nattukottai Chettiars (or Nagarathars) were among the earliest immigrants to arrive in Singapore. They were traders, merchant bankers and moneylenders, and formed Singapore’s main Indian merchant-banking community. Many of the Chettiar moneylenders ran their businesses in long shophouses called kittangis along Market Street and Tank Road. Though small in numbers, the Chettiars were very influential and outnumbered the European banks in Singapore in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. They played a crucial role in transforming Southeast Asia’s traditional subsistence-based economy into an export-oriented one by providing businessmen with capital at lower interest rates.
The Chettiars are traditionally followers of Shaivism, the Hindu sect that reveres Murugan’s father, Shiva, as the supreme deity. Even though they left Chettinad for various parts of Asia in the nineteenth century, they continued the practice of building temples dedicated to Murugan wherever they settled.
Chettiar Temples in Singapore
In 1859, the Chettiar community established Sri Thendayuthapani Temple on Tank Road. More than 60 years later, in 1925, they built Sri Layan Sithi Vinayagar Temple on Keong Saik Road in Chinatown, where Ganesha, Murugan’s brother, is the chief deity. Both temples are managed by the Chettiars’ Temple Society today.
While Sri Thendayuthapani Temple was primarily a religious institution, it also functioned as a social and commercial space for the Chettiars. Every Chettiar firm voluntarily donated to the temple. The Nattukottai Chettiars’ Chamber of Commerce was also established within the temple grounds in 1928. Business transactions were carried out before Murugan’s statue in the past, invoking his blessings and inviting him to witness the transactions.
In Sri Thendayuthapani Temple, the 48 glass panels bring to life the different forms of Shiva’s mystical dance, the Nataraja (Lord of the Dance), and the various forms of Ganesha, among other Hindu deities.
Our National Monuments
Our National Monuments are an integral part of Singapore’s built heritage, which the National Heritage Board (NHB) preserves and promotes for posterity. They are monuments and sites that are accorded the highest level of protection in Singapore.
For more details about the temple refer
sttemple.com/
www.roots.gov.sg/places/place...