Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
130
Indian M uslim life center ed in the Chinato wn ar ea. The Chulias built not only this
mosque, but the Al-Abrar Mosque and the Nagore Durgha Shrine as well. Jamae Mosque
dates from 1827 but wasn't completed until the early 1830s. The mosque stands today
almost exactly as it did then.
Although the front gate is typical of mosques you'd see in southern India, inside, most
of the buildings reflect the neoclassical style of architecture introduced in administrative
buildings and homes designed by George Coleman and favored by the Europeans. There
are also some Malay touches in the timber work. A small shrine inside, which may be the
oldest part of the mosque, was er ected to memorialize a local r eligious leader, Muham-
mad Salih Valinva.
218 South Bridge Rd., at the corner of South Bridge Rd. and Mosque St.
&
65/6221-4165.
Free admis-
sion. Chinatown MRT. 10-min. walk from Chinatown MRT.
Lau Pa Sat Festival Pavilion
Though it used to be w ell beloved, the locals think
this place has become quite touristy—though lunchtime finds it still packed with finan-
cial district workers. Once the happy little hawker center kno wn as Telok Ayer Market,
it began life as a wet market, selling fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs. Now it's part
hawker center, part Western fast-food outlets.
It all began on M arket Street in 1823, in a str ucture that was later torn do wn, rede-
signed, and r ebuilt by G. D. Coleman. Close to the water , seafood could be unloaded
fresh off the pier. After the land in Telok Ayer Basin was reclaimed in 1879, the mar ket
was moved to its pr esent home. A ne w design b y James MacRitchie kept the original
octagonal shape and was constructed of 3,000 prefab cast-iron elements brought in from
Europe.
In the 1970s, as the financial district began to develop, the pavilion was dominated by
hawkers who fed the lunchtime business crowd. In the mid-1980s, the structure was torn
down to make way for the MRT construction and then meticulously put back together,
puzzle piece b y puzzle piece. B y 1989, the mar ket was once again an urban landmar k,
but it sat v acant until Scotts H oldings successfully tendered to convert it into a festiv al
market. At this time, numerous changes were made to the building, which was renamed
Lau Pa Sat (Old Market) in acknowledgment of the name by which the market had been
known by generations of Singaporeans. Lau Pa Sat is one of the few hawker centers that's
open 24 hours, in case y ou need a coffee or snack befor e retiring.
18 Raffles Quay, located in the entire block flanked by Robinson Rd., Cross St., Shenton Way, and Boon Tat
St. Free admission. Daily 24 hr. 10-min. walk from Raffles Place MRT.
7
Nagore Durgha Shrine
Although this is a M uslim place of worship , it is not a
mosque, but a shrine, built to commemorate a visit to the island b y a Muslim holy man
of the Chulia people (M uslim merchants and moneylenders fr om India's Coromandel
Coast) who was traveling around Southeast Asia spreading the word of Indian Islam. The
most interesting visual feature is its facade: Two arched windows flank an ar ched door-
way, with columns in between. Above these is a “miniature palace”—a massive replica of
the facade of a palace, with tiny cutout windo ws and a small ar ched door way in the
middle. The cutouts in white plaster make it look like lace. F rom the corners of the
facade, two 14-lev el minar ets rise, with thr ee little domed cutouts on each lev el and
onion domes on top. Inside, the prayer halls and two shrines ar e painted and decorated
in shockingly tacky colors.
Controversy surr ounds the dates that the shrine was built. The go vernment, upon
naming the Nagore Durgha a national monument, claimed it was built sometime in the
