This photograph depicts some South Indian women washing at a well. The words inscribed indicate that the women are carrying out a sacred ritual during a Hindu festival in Singapore.The photograph dates back to the 1920s and is an indication of the existence of young female Indian immigrants amidst a dominant male Indian immigrant society in the first few decades of the 20th century.The photograph is also significant as it shows how these women carried over their beliefs and practices from India when they migrated to Singapore and how a well has also been incorporated into functioning as a ‘sacred artefact’.
