A characteristic of Singapore, besides being a ‘fine’ city, lies with the fact that it is multi-ethnic and everyone, regardless of ethnicity and religions, live harmoniously with each other. This doesn’t come easy – it takes understanding to compromise and accommodate to all the differences which the distinct cultures bring about. However, I was just wondering if this comes about due to our understanding of the differences between cultures or the general indifference which Singaporeans are so easily associated with? After all, we can still live harmoniously together if we stay engrossed in our own life, ignoring what’s not significantly related to us.

I, for one, am ashamed to say that I have not put in much effort in understanding about the different cultural practices of the other races. There is probably no valid reason to justify this behaviour but it’s never too late to make some changes to this mentality. As such, I thought of taking the first step by visiting an Indian temple and see how it is like. Instead of the Sri Mariamman Temple (a South Indian temple located in Chinatown) which all Singaporeans should be quite familiar with, I was drawn to the only North Indian Hindu temple in Singapore – Shree Lakshminarayan Temple, located on Chander Road (near Little India MRT station).

I only heard about this temple when The Straits Times published an article (S’pore’s only North Indian Hindu temple turns 40, 29 June 2009) on the 40^th anniversary of the temple last week. I’ve just proven my minimal knowledge of other cultures (not that I know a lot about mine as well, and this sounds so pathetic). Anyway, what struck me was the fact that there is a specific temple for the North Indian and that it sounds different from how other Indian temples are like. So what’s the difference, if there is any?

The temple is located within walking distance from the Little India MRT Station. Walk out from exit E and the temple is located right next to Kerbau Hotel.

A rule that you must always remember before stepping into an Indian temple – take off your shoes before entering. Shoes are generally considered dirty, so one takes them off so he does not make the house of the God dirty. This is similar to how we will always remove our shoes before entering our houses, so as not to dirty the floor.

Anyway, the Shree Lakshminarayan Temple was declared open on 24^th April 1969 and was built by the North Indian community (from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Gujerat, Surat, Marwar and Bengal) who has migrated to Singapore then as they were involved in the dairy trade, money lending business or were employed as security guards. As the community is relatively small in Singapore, one temple is said to suffice for everyone, though there are plans to have a second one if the finances permit, as told to me by Mr Pathak, who is from the Youth Wing sub-committee of the temple.

The temple is opened from 6am onwards but will close in the afternoon from 12pm to 4pm before reopening it again till 9.30pm. I heard from Mr Pathak that there will usually be 400 to 500 devotees coming to the temple on Sunday with or without celebration. During festivals, the number will generally increase as well.

The temple has five levels – the first being the area where devotees can do their prayers, the second as the stores and the third being the dining room, where lunches are served free for devotees every Sunday. The fourth level is the staff quarters while the fifth level is the kitchen.

the first level

My first impression of the temple is that it looks relatively new, despite celebrating its 40^th birthday just last week. The solemn yet grand look as seen from the colours of its exterior and the cleanliness of its interior depict the hard work which the management has done to maintain the temple and keep it as a place, not just for worship, but also an important focal point for the Hindu community to meet and interact.

Being ignorant about the Indian religion, I’m glad Mr Pathak was there to answer my queries. I’ve come to realise that Hinduism is quite similar to Buddhism actually – with both religions valuing respect given to the elderly and the need to look after the community. Hinduism is also quite different from what I’ve always thought religions are like. Promoting free choice, Hinduism is seen more as a way of life than a religion, though scholars classify it as a religion.  Mr Pathak explained to me that Hinduism believes in making an open choice and they welcome all members of the public to come forward and offer their prayers if they want to, without having to convert. Even for Hindus, there is no hard and fast rule stating that they must come to the temple to offer their prayers on a certain day or time. It is determined by the devotees. Same goes for all the rituals and ceremonies – devotees can choose to have them or not to. They can even choose which aspect of the rituals they would prefer to undergo – some can go for the complicated traditional rituals, while others can choose a simpler way to perform the ritual.

One the greatest myths which has been debunked after this visit of mine was that the Hindus, in actual fact, only have a God, and the different statues only show the different forms and roles of the same God. I’ve always thought that Hindus have many Gods, especially after seeing the exterior of Sri Mariamman Temple. To allow me to understand better, Mr Pathak used the analogy of us assuming different roles in different occasions – we can be a daughter / son to our parent, a boyfriend / girlfriend to our significant other, a friend to our peers, a father / mother to our children. Same goes for the God, which in this case takes on different roles as well, to cater to the needs of its devotees. If you take a look at the two pictures posted below, they show the God statues in different positions, which seem to imply that there are more than one God. At a closer look though, you’ll realise that they are all the same. In the end, like what Mr Pathak said, such statues are man-made and fashioned based on the imagination of the creators, hence the different looks given to the same God.

I think by now, everyone must be wondering about the differences between the North Indian temple and the other Indian temples. The fact is there isn’t any difference between the religion which they believe, the God they worship and the festivals celebrated by them. However, people living in different regions, though in the same country, will have different cultural practices – and this is the same between the North Indian and the South Indian. For example, though both the North Indians and the South Indians celebrate Deepavali, the North Indians will only consume vegetarian dishes during the festival and the South Indians have no such restrictions. The only difference between the temples which was pointed out to me by Mr Pathak was probably how the decorations of the temple were like and the colours used on the God statues. The South Indians would probably use more colours on their God statues, as compared to their North Indian counterparts. Maybe I should make a trip down to the Sri Mariamman Temple next to compare the decorations used.

This visit has allowed me to realise so much more about the religion and culture of the Indian community. Though I have only decided to put in the effort to understand more about the other races after 22 years, it is better late than never. And maybe this can be something which all of us can mull over: do you think you know the other races well enough especially when they have been living in such close proximity to all of us? Or maybe we should start with this first: do you think you even know your own culture and heritage well enough?