Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple (ஶ்ரீ செண்பக விநாயகர் ஆலயம்)
Address : 19 Ceylon Road, Singapore 429613
Opening Timing : 0800hrs – 2100hrs
Walking from the famous Katong 328 Laksa, we soon approached Sri Senpaga Vinayagar temple where there was a procession taking place. The entrance of the temple was barricaded with security personnel stationed at the temple entrance which prevented us from getting close enough to see what procession was taking place.
Check out this video about the procession
This video was taken when one of the security personnel momentarily left his post and Jeremiah tried to sneak in but hastily left because the security personnel was soon returning to his post.
Though we caught only a glimpse of what was happening in the temple, some research showed that the procession taking place was likely “Vinayagar Chaturthi”, a Hindu festival made in honour of the Elephant-headed god, Vinayagar. The security personnel who we spoke to and he shared with us that this festival is very auspicious because praying to Vinayagar at this time would ensure that all potential obstacles faced in one’s path would be removed.
We were interested in how the temple’s name came about and we found that the name of the temple consisted of two main word which are Vinayagar which and Senpaga.
Vinayagar – the Hindu Elephant-headed god
Senpaga – the Tamil translation of the Chempaka tree
After some research, the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar was found to have been named as such because in the 1850s, Ceylonese Tamil labourers discovered the stone statue of Vinayagar at the bank of a pond near a Chempaka (Tamil: Senpaga) tree and the stone statue was eventually installed by a prominent Ceylonese Tamil Ethirnayagam Pillay under the Chempaka tree which it was found under 16.
The temple we now see originated from humble beginning, starting of in 1850s as a simple attap shed covering the stone statute under the Chempaka tree which then expanded in 1923 when the Ceylonese Tamils purchased land which consist of the existing temple site and hired a priest to consecrate the temple and offer daily prayers 16.
It was really interesting that the road which the temple was built along was called Ceylon Road and Ceylon was the name used for Sri Lanka when it was a colony of the British. We discovered that the Ceylonese Tamil came to Singapore in 1870-1875 to take advantage of the availability of jobs in the area of clerical and administrative services in Singapore’s Government service 17. Apart from the Ceylonese Tamil working in the public sector, there also many who came as cattle farmers who would have reared livestock, could have consist of cows.
Based on the temple’s website, the Hindu procession, Abishegam, also known as Milk Anointing, is still practised which is the process of anointing the deities by pouring fresh milk over them. The presence of Ceylonese Tamil cattle farmers might have been to supplement the need for milk used in this religious procession.
With the influx of Ceylonese Tamils who settling into Singapore and residing in the area surrounding the temple, the area was thus called Ceylon Road. It is highly probable that the Ceylonese would have settled in a place easily accessible to a place of worship as it was a means of connection with religious and cultural roots back in their homeland as well as a place to meet their kinsmen.
The temple has gone through many restorative works by which one in particular was the construction of a main gateway which included classrooms, library, cultural hall and Hindu wedding hall 17. Apart from just being a place of worship, it is now also a place for the local community of Ceylonese Tamils to congregate which inspires and foster a sense of inclusiveness among the Ceylonese Tamils which are seen as a minority group within the Indian minority group through shared activities.
16“History,” Sri Senpaga Vinayagar, accessed October 12, 2016, http://www.senpaga.org.sg/history.asp
17 “Sri Senpaga Vinayagar” National Library Board Singapore, 2004, http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_626_2004-12-23.html
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