Singapore, one of Asia’s most exciting cities, is famous for its multicultural spirit and ethnic diversity, but this has not always been the case… In its early days, the British colonial authorities enforced a policy of ethnic segregation, which resulted in the creation of the city’s ethnic quarters.

The segregation has long been forgotten and the historic quarters have become some of the city’s most popular tourist destinations.

This article will take you on a half day trip to one of Singapore’s most colorful ethnic quarters – Little India.

As its name suggests, Little India used to be the enclave of Singapore‘s Indian community during early colonial times, when ethnic quarters were built under the British policy of ethnic segregation, and although it stopped being an “Indian only” suburb long time ago, it still maintains its unique character and its streets boast an enormous variety of authentic shops – From colorful sari boutiques, emporiums and heavenly scented spice shops to traditional eateries, inexpensive electronics and computer shops, and video shops, where Bollywood’s latest releases can be found…

Little India

We will get to Little India MRT Station at an early hour of the day and move from there to neighboring Tekka Centre, where a large wet market and a food court can be found, with numerous stalls that serve different Indian foods, as well as vegetarian Malay and Chinese delicacies. There are also quite a few shops here that sell a wide range of stuff, from Indian fashion and inexpensive casual clothes to Taoist and Buddhist paraphernalia, and from tailor shops to henna salons, you name it…

We continue from here to Serangoon Road, Little India’s main thoroughfare, to visit Little India Arcade. This traditional shopping centre occupies a cluster of old shophouses and boasts a wide choice of traditional shops that sell everything India can offer…

Strolling through the neighboring streets, including Campbell Lane, Clive Street and Dunlop, you will be able to peep into some other interesting shops, like “Haniffa Textiles”, which is a well-known emporium that has been selling a wide range of Indian and international clothes for more than 50 years.

We walk back to Serangoon Road and visit Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, which was built in the 1880s in honor of Kali, Shiva’s wife and destroyer of evil, and features the South Indian Dravidian style, with a distinctive Gopuram “pyramid” atop of its main gate, covered with sculptures and figurines of different Hindu deities.

Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, also on Serangoon Road,is one of Singapore’s oldest and most significant Hindu temples. Originally built in 1855 in honor of Krishna, who is one of Vishnu’s avatars, it boasts a beautiful ‘Gopuram’ pyramid above its gate, as well as plenty of nice statues and religious ornaments.

Continue walking up Serangoon Road and you will reach Mustafa Centre, Singapore’s super-store, which spans across two connected buildings near the corner of Serangoon and Syed Alwi.

Muni Buddha Gaya Temple, our next destination, is just a five minutes’ walk from Mustafa Centre. Better known as the Temple of 1,000 Lights, it is one of Singapore’s most popular Buddhist temples and best known for the giant Buddha statue which seats right in the middle of its prayer hall, surrounded by a thousand small light bulbs that gave it its name.Leong San See Temple, right across the street, is a small but lavishly decorated Taoist temple, devoted to Guan Yin, the Chinese goddess of mercy.

This is where our Little India journey comes to an end… A few minutes’ walk will bring us to Farrer Park Station, from where we can take the MRT subway to anywhere we want…

Before you move onwards…

Nibbling snacks from authentic eateries is one of the most enjoyable sides of strolling through the streets of Little India…

Komala Vilas, on Serangoon Road has been serving scrumptious vegetarian fare at reasonable prices for God knows how many years… Kulfi Bar, on Upper Dickson, is known for its lovely home-made Indian ice cream (Kulfi), while Sakunthala’s Restaurant, on 151 Dunlop, serves a variety of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian specialties and is particularly famous for its Dosa (Thosai): A South-Indian style crispy crêpe, stuffed with various fillings and served with different sauces and deeps on the side…