01From Narasimha to Srinivasa
The land was bought from the East India Company in 1851, when Serangoon Road was still ponds and vegetable gardens and a stream ran past where the temple stands; a well in the inner court now marks the stream. The first temple, finished in 1855, was Sri Narasimha Perumal. In the 1960s, on the advice of the elders, Srinivasa Perumal, Venkateshwara of Tirumala, was installed as the main deity, and the temple took its present name. In 1966 the five-tier gopuram, carved with the avatars of Vishnu, was raised with a gift from P. Govindasamy Pillai, one of the early Indian merchants of the city. It was gazetted a national monument on 10 November 1978.
02Where Thaipusam begins
On Thaipusam, before dawn, devotees who have kept vows gather in the courtyard here to be pierced and fitted with their kavadi, the great frames of steel spikes and peacock feathers, or to take up pots of milk. Then they walk about four kilometres to the Sri Thendayuthapani temple on Tank Road, to the sound of drums and chanting. In ordinary weeks the temple is a quiet place of Vaishnava worship with the shrines of Lakshmi, Andal, Garuda and Hanuman around the main sanctum.
The life of this place
- 1851The land is bought from the East India Company.
- 1855The Sri Narasimha Perumal temple is completed.
- 1966The five-tier gopuram is raised.
- 10 November 1978Gazetted a national monument.
397 Serangoon Road, near Farrer Park MRT. Thaipusam (January–February) starts here in the early morning.
