Located at South Bridge Road, the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore was built in the early 19th century by Naraina Pillai, a government clerk from Penang who came to Singapore with Sir Stamford Raffles. The characteristic 'gopuram', seen in this picture, is a tower-like feature that is prominent in Hindu temple architecture. The ornate temple, decorated with sculptures of Hindu deities, was gazetted as a national monument on 6 July 1973. This photograph was taken by Sachtler and Co., which operated a studio in High Street from the early 1860s until 1874, where they sold photographs of various scenes taken around Singapore.
