Temples in Chinatown

After Dustin got up and left for work I decided to go to breakfast with my books in hand to decide where I was going to go. I didn’t want to go too far because I didn’t want to get lost and have an astronomical cab bill. I decided I was going to venture off to Chinatown. I have a love of temples and different places of worship, I don’t know why, I just do. So I set out on the MRT and headed to C-town. When I got there I wasn’t really sure what road to take. I stood there for a moment and wanted to pull out my map but I didn’t want to look too much like a tourist. So I looked at the different exits from the station and just decided to go right. Apparently that was the wrong way. I popped out on the street and was not sure where I was or what direction to head. Thankfully I was in Singapore and not a city like New York because I know I won’t get mugged here in broad daylight. This is the safest city in the world. So I started to walk when I realized I should probably get my map out so I know where the temple is.

I got my map out and discovered that I was going in the totally wrong direction. I started walking back the way I came and taking different roads to get to the first temple. When I got there I was immediately in awe of it. The building had so many statues on and around the building, and some of them had very scary faces on them. I was at the Sru Mariamman Temple, this temple was a Hindu temple and I know that this particular Hindu temple is the oldest one in Singapore. As I was walking up I noticed that everyone was taking their shoes off before they entered. Now, I know that it was because it’s a sign of respect because shoes are dirty and you don’t want to disrespect Gods house by getting it dirty, but I did wait until I got right up to the door. I don’t want to walk on the city sidewalk with no shoes one. Everyone was leaving their shoes outside, I did not, I put them in my purse with the soles facing each other. I did this because I didn’t want anyone to take my shoes. I know what you’re thinking, it’s the safest city and no one would take my shoes BUT my mind went to the Sex in the City episode where Carrie lost her shoes at a friend’s house because she had to take them off and someone else ran off with them. I was not about to walk around Singapore without shoes.

Anyways, there were things going in in the temple but I could not take part of because I was not Hindu. People who were would go up and wash their feet and their hands and meet. I walked around and took pictures and realized that there wasn’t much inside but still felt something spiritual about it. I didn’t stay long because it wasn’t a very big temple and there wasn’t much to look at but the different statues all around.

I walked around and once I was done I went out put my shoes on and headed in the direction of a Buddhist temple. As I was walking I saw the different touristy stands and I had to tell myself that I wasn’t going to be that much of a tourist, not until we get closer to going back home because I wanted to bring stuff back with us. Anyways, I was walking and got turned around and realized I wasn’t going in the right direction. I pulled out my map and looked at the street signs and figured out that I was only a block away. The temple I was looking for was the Buddha Tooth Relic temple and museum. As I got there it was breath taking. Without thinking I started to go into the ceremony room when I was stopped abruptly and told that I had to put on a shawl to cover my shoulders. I felt so dumb because I knew I had to cover my shoulders but I was in such awe of what the inside looked like I didn’t think. So as I was going to put my shawl on there was a monk who came over and told me that I was going tough the temple in the wrong order, we had to start at the top.

You would think that I would be hesitant going with a total stranger around this temple, but he was no ordinary stranger, he was a monk and we all know that monks can do no harm, especially in Singapore. We got up to the top and I realized this was the museum part of the building. It was full with different Buddha’s and statues. As I went around there were also gifts to the temple from different parts of the world. I never knew there were so many different Buddha’s and all had different meanings. There were also statues of the protectors of the temple. As I was walking along the monk was praying, and every once in a while his cellphone would go off. I was surprised; because I turned mine on vibrate for respect purposes. The monk also did his best to explain different things to me but there was a bit of a communication barrier, we both tried our hardest and got though.

We got though all the floors and then went into the ceremony room, or rooms, don’t worry, I had my shawl on and ready. There were thousands of statues covering the walls and before them were different offerings from flowers to oranges to incense. People were running around bowing their heads, hands in prayer form shaking their hands from their heads to the different statues saying something I couldn’t understand. All I know is that they were giving thanks to their protectors and Gods. Again, it was such an overwhelming vibe of spirituality in there; it was interesting and amazing all at the same time. Once I was done, the monk asked where I was going and I said home. He then took my shoulders and then started saying a prayer touching my head and saying things in a language I could obviously not understand, He then said that I was blessed and may go safely home. It was really cool.