The pavilion, or the six-eaved kiosk, houses a statue of Buddha, while the pagoda has a sculpture of Sakyamuni - the founder of Buddhism – seated on top of it. Originally 15 storeys high when it was first built in 1937, the pagoda was later reduced to four storeys, as Aw Boon Haw instructed his craftsmen to replace the top storeys with a statue of Sakyamuni. Originally called Tiger Balm Gardens, Haw Par Villa was built in 1937 by Aw, a prominent businessman and philanthropist whose name became synonymous with Tiger Balm, the renowned analgesic ointment that was successfully marketed around the Southeast Asian region.
