An Introduction to Little India

We met at the Little India MRT and learned how the first Box Kite Plane landed at the field below. The pilot was a Frenchman that was on his way to Australia; he stopped off in Singapore to catch the local bi-annual horserace. This became such a big event that people started building their homes outside of the city center to be closer to the action. Adjacent was a Buffalo Pen that was so prominent you still see the influence in the road names: Buffalo Rd & Kerbau Rd (Malay for Buffalo).

Moving right into the heart of Little India the architecture is a mixture of Art Deco and the Malay swinging bar door (like the old west) – these helped with ventilation. Additionally, the Chinese influence is in the green bamboo tile roofs. These types of tiles represent “longevity.” The French even had influence with the louvered shutters – quite prevalent in S’pore. Last but not least, the Greco columns and tiles imported from Europe add the finishing touch to the odd composite of architecture.

A Hindu Temple:

The building below is being renovated to highlight color and culture in the area.

The flower garlands are always available in Little India and given to people on their birthday (first thing in the morning), when there is a death or anniversary of death (it would be hung on the grave marker), for marriage (traditional marriage celebrations can last up to 7 days or so) and for Statues for prayers or festivals. These shots give you an idea of the types of products sold at festival time; right now Pongol.

The flowers all symbolize different things: Marigold (Happiness), Rose (Love, of course!), Orchid (S’pore), Jasmine (the tiny white flowers – Purity), the Lotus Flower (Draw inspiration from difficulties) and the green grass garlands are among the offerings to the Hindu God (you see these in the temples).

Video below shows the “Chewing Gum of the East.” Sometimes men add Tobacco to the Betel leaf. This is becoming quite a problem in some other countries because it’s causing mouth cancer.

Part I:

Part II:

The little shop also sells Ginger (top) and Tumeric (lower):

They also sell two types of Sugar Cane (See below). Examples: Purple is used for Pongol (Ceremonial Rice Dish) & Green is used to make Jaggery - used in many Indian desserts.

Little India actually evolved on its own because originally the Indians were slated to live (by Raffles)on the river (what is now Clarke Quay); this made sense at the time because they were skilled boat builders and sold water to Singaporeans. But, the area was not big enough – they were socked in by the river to the front and hill to their backs. People started moving north to what is now Little India. The main road – Serangoon Rd means “Attack with a Drum.” This strange saying wasn’t so strange back in the 1800’s when you needed to make nose (i.e. bang a drum) to cross the river and the forest to get to Little India because Tigers and other colorful wildlife inhabited the area. Note the Lotus flower on sign pole below - very important in the Indian culture.

Close to Little India, is Dhoby Ghaut; Dhoby means “Laundrymen” and Ghaut means “Step of the River.” So, some of the Indian men were known for laundry and that’s how the area (and now a MRT station) got its name.