Sri Krishnan Temple - Singapore

Address

Sri Krishnan Temple – Singapore

152 Waterloo St,

Singapore 187961

Moolavar

Sri Krishnan

Introduction

Sri Krishnan Temple is located in Singapore Built in 1870 and gazette as a national monument of Singapore in 2014, it is one of Singapore’s oldest temples and is the only South Indian temple in Singapore dedicated to Krishna and his consort Rukmini. The Sri Krishnan Temple and the nearby Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple are known for having evolved a social practice termed “cross-worshipping”, where many devotees of either temple also worship at the other. This practice is commonly seen as a microcosm of Singapore’s multi-religious society.

Puranic Significance

The temple began as a shrine laid in 1870 by an immigrant, Hanuman Beem Singh, a wealthy merchant who had been deported to Singapore by the British administration in India. By that time, a large community had formed within the bounds of Bras Basah Road, Victoria Street and Albert Street. In response to their religious needs, Singh placed the images of the deities Vigneshwar and Krishna at the foot of a banyan tree and began praying to it regularly. As it became a popular site of worship, he built a platform to hold Krishna’s image. Singh managed the temple until 1880, when he became too old to do so. He then handed over responsibility to his son, Humna Somapah, who managed it until 1904.

Special Features

The temple was built over time, in the classical Dravidian architectural style, and in accordance with the Agama Sastra. It has been described as having a “sturdy” look and design, with multiple pilasters and cornices. In the 1970s, it remained undamaged in a fire which broke out in the vicinity of the temple, burning down all the nearby attap houses. The full compound spans 1,008 square meters (10,850 sq ft) and contains a mandapa of 220 square metres (2,400 sq ft), with a vimana, or dome, directly over the garbhagriha, or inner sanctum. The temple hall features a skylight, enabling worshippers to look upwards and see the dome from within the mandapa. It is complemented by an annexe building of 788 square meters (8,480 sq ft) in size, containing a basement of multi-purpose rooms. The main shrine is made of pebbles and granite. The vimana is the tallest point of the temple, at a height of approximately 8 meters (26 ft). It is decorated with statues of deities, as well as with designs in copper and gold plating.

The second tallest point of the temple is the gopuram (or gateway tower), one of the gazette features of the temple. It is decorated with statues studded with semi-precious stones depicting the wedding scene of Padmavathi and Srinivasar, presided over by the local king, Aksaraja, and in the presence of the gods Siva, Brahma and their consorts. On the sides of the gopuram are statues of Garuda and Anjaneyar, the vanara companion of the god Rama. The exterior is decorated with statues of the dashavatara (the ten major incarnations of the god Vishnu), Garuda, and a wedding scene. In the renovation completed in 2018, eight concrete shrines were replaced with onyx sanctums to improve durability, in view of a decreasing number of temple artists. The same renovation saw the upgrade of the shrines, pillars, ceiling and temple dome.