Little India, Singapore

History

Serangoon Road, the spine of what is now Little India, was one of Singapore's earliest roads, marked on Lieutenant Jackson's 1828 town plan as "the road leading across the island." The surrounding land was first used for farming — betel nut, rice paddies, vegetables, and sugarcane — before cattle trading became the area's dominant industry in the 19th century, drawing Indian cattle traders, dairymen, and laborers to settle nearby.

As the cattle trade grew, so did the resident Indian population, and the district's identity as an Indian commercial and social hub took shape through the late 1800s and early 1900s. Tekka Market was built in 1915 to house the area's produce traders and remains a working market today, its name derived from the Hokkien word for the bamboo clumps that once marked the site.

Slum clearance in the 1970s and public housing developments in the 1980s — including the current Tekka Centre and Rowell Court — reshaped the area's built form while its function as a South Asian cultural and commercial center endured. Little India was formally gazetted as a conservation area on 7 July 1989, protecting its shophouses and street pattern as Singapore's built heritage.

Known for

• Tekka Centre, the market and hawker complex anchoring the district since the 1980s (built on the site of the historic Tekka Market)
• Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, a working Hindu temple dating to the 1850s on Serangoon Road
• Campbell Lane and Dunlop Street's garland stalls, spice shops, and gold jewelers
• Mustafa Centre, a round-the-clock department store and neighborhood landmark
• Conserved shophouse facades protected under Little India's 1989 conservation designation
• Deepavali street light-ups and bazaar stalls along Serangoon Road each year

Getting there

Take the MRT to Little India station (North East and Downtown lines), which opens directly onto Serangoon Road and the Tekka Centre.

Best times to visit

Deepavali brings elaborate street light-ups and a festive bazaar along Serangoon Road; thaipusam and onam also draw large community gatherings to the district.