Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple Singapore

Roots.gov.sg says Indian community leaders bought the land from the East India Company in 1851 for 26 rupees and 8 annas, and that a temple to Narasimha Perumal, an avatar of Vishnu, was built there in 1855. Its Roots story names the founders as Arunachala Pillay, Cootaperumal Pillay, Ramasamy Pillay, Appasamy Pillay, Chockalingam Pillay and Ramasamy Jamidar. Sources differ on the building date: the temple's own history page gives 1885 for the original Narasinga Perumal Kovil, and a 2018 Swarajya report gives 1854. This page follows the government heritage source (1855).

The Mahomedan and Hindu Endowment Board began managing the temple in 1907 (Roots.gov.sg; the temple's history page gives the same year). By 1932 the old building needed urgent repairs and the deities were moved to a temporary wooden shrine; rebuilding plans began in 1952 (Roots.gov.sg). The wedding hall funded by P. Govindasamy Pillai was opened on 19 June 1965 by Yusof bin Ishak, then Yang di-Pertuan Negara (Roots.gov.sg).

The rebuilt temple was completed in 1966. At that point the main deity changed from Narasimha Perumal to Srinivasa Perumal and the temple took its present name (Roots.gov.sg; Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple). Roots.gov.sg's own page header says 'rebuilt: 1970s' while its text says 1966, so 1966 is used here. The temple's history page says it was declared a National Monument in 1978.

A major restoration ran through 2017 and 2018, during which conservation experts from India shared traditional maintenance methods such as a turmeric, asafoetida and lime paste for weeds on the gopuram and boric acid against pests and rot (Roots.gov.sg). The reconsecration was held on 22 April 2018, attended by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; Swarajya, citing The Straits Times, reported about 40,000 devotees and a renovation cost of S$4.5 million. Other reports give about S$4 million, so the cost is not stated here as settled.

Architecture and sacred features

The temple is in a traditional South Indian style. Its five-tier gopuram carries figures of Vishnu's avatars and other deities with floral and abstract patterns, and the mandapam has relief carvings and coloured circular mandalas. The main sanctum is entered only by priests and is flanked by two dwarapalakas; each sanctum is topped by a decorated vimanam (Roots.gov.sg). The temple's history page says the grand entrance tower (Rajagopuram) was added in 1979, funded by Govindasamy Pillay; other sources give different dates, so the year is left uncertain here.