Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple, Singapore

The Vinayagar Temple on Ceylon Road in Singapore is one of the most spectacular places of worship I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something in a city with hundreds of temples and shrines of many religions.

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The temple is a center for a community of Tamil people with roots in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and is dedicated to the Hindu god Ganesha, also known as Vinayaga (among a total of 108 different names). He is the god depicted with the head of an elephant and four arms, and is one of the most-worshiped Hindu deities.

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The area where the temple is located and the name of the street are a reminder of its origins and population. The name of the temple reflects its origin story: In the 1850s, a statue of Lord Vinayagar was found on the bank of a pond, under the shelter of a Chempaka tree, whose name in Tamil is Senpaga.

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A local Tamil resident, with help from others, built a shelter for the statue, covering it with a roof woven from attap leaves. That first temple became inadequate as the Tamil community grew; by 1909 there were 300 families, and they formed the Singapore Ceylon Tamils’ Association, which began planning for a grander temple.

P1290218P1290221P1290224ProfessorAbe and George G recognized the location of our One-Clue Mystery this week from the image above

The land for the present temple was purchased by SCTA in 1923, and by 1930, the new temple was ready for a major consecration. In addition to worship for Ganesha, it had shrines for Shiva, his father, and several other deities.

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Between 1949 and 1955, major repairs were completed, restoring damage caused by a World War II bombing raid in 1942. During the reconstruction an extension was added that houses kitchens, a library and a wedding hall.

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