Monument Focus: The Former Nagore Dargah
The Former Nagore Dargah, located on historic Telok Ayer Street, stands as a testament to the Chulia community's historical presence and economic contributions to colonial Singapore. It is situated in close proximity to several significant landmarks, including the Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church, Al-Abrar Mosque, Thian Hock Keng, and the Former Keng Teck Whay Building.
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Devotion of the Chulias
Originating from the Coromandel Coast in southern India, the Chulias arrived in Singapore as traders and moneychangers, many of whom were followers of the Tamil Sufi preacher-saint Shahul Hamid. To honour their revered saint, the Chulia pioneers constructed the Shahul Hamid Dargah on Telok Ayer Street, as a tribute to the shrine in Tamil Nadu, Nagore. The shrine was later renamed Nagore Dargah. Although it commemorates Shahul Hamid, it does not house the physical relics of the Sufi saint. The management of Nagore Dargah, Jamae Mosque, and Al-Abrar Mosque was entrusted to the Mahomedan and Hindu Endowment Board in 1917.
Architectural Style
The building features an eclectic architectural style, incorporating elements from various traditions. Its design includes minarets, crescent-and-star motifs, fluted Corinthian and Doric pilasters, Doric columns, arches, and large French-style windows with semi-circular fanlights. The front façade is distinguished by two square minaret-like towers, depicted in Percy Carpenter’s 1856 painting, ‘View of Singapore from Mount Wallich’. The building also features an intricate miniature palace façade, adorned with numerous perforations representing doorways and windows, as well as a Moorish multi-foliated arch at the main entrance.
Indian Muslim Heritage Centre
Islam Singapura, MUIS), the Former Nagore Dargah today houses the Nagore Dargah Indian Muslim Heritage Centre, which chronicles the history and contributions of Indian Muslims in Singapore since 2011.
"History will show that when the Indian Muslims came to Singapore, this was the location in which they landed and this was the location where they made their place here in Singapore - building not only the mosque but also the shrine."
– Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for information, Communications and the Arts and Minister-incharge of Muslim Affairs, at the opening of the Nagore Dargah Indian Muslim Heritage Centre in 2011.
3D Model of Former Nagore Dargah
