Hindus in Singapore

In Singapore  is a multi ethnic country that is home  to  different religious groups. The Hindus  also form  a major part  of  the  demography  of  singapore. though the  majorrity of  people in Singapore are Chinese and hence the main religion of the country is Buddhism,  the  Hinduism  also  found  its niche in the  country. Hindus form the third largest population after the Malaya-speaking Muslims.

The early 19th century saw a lot of immigrants from South India. Most of these  immigrants are  Tamils. They  came here to work as coolies and labors for the British East India Company in Singapore. These immigrants brought along their religion and culture from their homeland as well. Their arrival saw the building of temples throughout the island and the beginnings of a vibrant Hindu culture.The first temple, Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown, was built as early as 1827 by narayana Pillai .The temples are all built in the Dravidian style.The temples  served to hold the Hindu  community together .There are currently about thirty main temples in Singapore, dedicated to various gods and goddesses from the Hindu pantheon.

.Almost all Hindus in Singapore are ethnic Indians.Hindus make up a minority, comprising about 4% of adult Singapore citizens and permanent residents . A unique feature of Hinduism in Singapore is the fact that a noticeable number of non-Indians, usually Buddhist Chinese, do participate in a variety of Hindu activities .It is by no means unusual to see non-Hindu images, such as manifestations of the Buddha, in Hindu temple compounds in Singapore

Some of the major Hindu festivals celebrated every year include Deepavali, Thaipusam, Pongal, Tamil New Year. the Fire walking festival, Holi and various Hindu temple chariot processions.Thaipusam  is a major Hindu religious festival that is only celebrated in Singapore and Malaysia, since it was banned in India.Thus it can be said that Hinduism in Singapore is unique in it 's own way .

Taoism in Singapore

Chinese community is the  largest community  in  Singapore.  many people  from the Chinese community  is  Singapore practice  Taoism. The followers of the Tao adhere to the lessons of the ancient religious philosophy of Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu is the founder of Taoism which  means the  way.  He is also known as the Celestial Worthy of the Way, the Pure One, or as Tai Shang Lao Jun.  Taoism  is  one of the  most  influential  religion in  Singapore. the followers  of Taoism  are concerned with life-after-death theory. They also  believe in the balance of the two cosmos energies. IN Tao  theory  these two energies are  depicted  through  Yin Yang  theory. They  also believe is vitality, good health and  longevity theory. Feng Shui  is  another  important aspect of Taoism.  Feng Shui can be  literally translated  as wind and water. This  way  of  living  is  also  generated from the  Yin Yang  Theory of  Taoism. This is also  rooted  deeply  in ancestral  worshiping which is  done to  seek  harmony  between the the living  or yang and the dead  or yin.

 Ancestral worship is a popular practice among  the Chinese community.  The Qing Ming Festival which takes place during  the  second full moon is observed by the majority. This reflects that Chinese tradition is rooted  deeply  in the  culture of modern Singapore. the  Chinese people pray in memory of their bereaved loved ones and the spirits of the dead are honored with offerings including food, beverages, joss-paper, joss-sticks, and even paper houses, which are intrinsic practices of the Taoists.

There  are a  number of  temples  and shrines of  Tao origin in  Singapore. during  your  trip to Singapore you will be  able to find  a  number of  Tao temples that are  frequented  by tourists. However, the Tao religion is not included officially as  one of the  major religion  in Singapore.

Religious Tolerance in Singapore

Religious tolerance is very important  part  of life in Singapore. Since the colonial times up to the independence of the island,  the  governing  instiotutions of  Singapore  has give  prime  importance to racial and religious harmony. In  other  words the  harmony among different ethnic and  religious groups  have always been the top priority of the Singapore government.

The government in Singapore has to some extent successfully erased some religions and racial boundaries. Some religions, especially those practiced by Chinese ethnic groups, have even shared their places of worship with different other religions like Hinduism and Islam. Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple  which is situated in the eastern coastal line is  a prominent example of this religious tolerance.  In this  temple  you  an  see  alll  three  religions -  Taoism, Hinduism, and Islam that  are housed under the same roof. It is in fact a manifestation of religious harmony in Singapore.
The  younger  generation of  people in Singapore  have also  contributed  to this  religious  tolerance. Then blend the traditional  wisdom of the  previous generations  with  religious  co-existence. This religious co-existence has  been  encouraged  by the British  colonials who  made  Singapore their colony.  If you  visit  Bridge Street, which was a major road through the old Chinatown, you  will  see it  is home to the Sri Mariamman Temple. This  temple is  a south Indian Hindu temple that was declared a national historical site in the 1980s.  there you  can  also find  the Masjid Jamae Mosque there. This  masjid served Chulia Muslims from India's Coromandel Coast.

The religious  tolerance  is  also  taught at the  schools of  singapore. there  are also students  from  different  communities that  are  in the  same  class.  Thus the children are taught  religious  tolerance  from a tender age  there. This  leads to  religious harmony in  Singapore.

Singapore Religion

Singapore is  one of the most well  known tourist destination  of the city.  It is a strategically located ort country  is  South  East Asia.  due  to its  strategic  locations and  recognition  as  a port country, the  city state has  a long  and varied  history of  immigration  for a wide  array of nationalities  and ethnicities. The  dominating  ethnic  groups  in Singapore  includes the Chinese, the  Malayas, the Indian as well as  Arabs. All these  people belong to different  religious  communities and groups. This  makes Singapore  a  multi religious  country. this port country of Southeast Asia has maintained identity as  a multi-religious nation. 

Singapore is home  to  a number of religions. People belonging to different religious communities staying this  city-state. A large section of  Singapore's population  are from Chinese origin. Most  of the Chinese  people follow Buddhism.  Whereas  a large section among the Chinese  also  follow Taoism Confucianism as well as Christianity. The Malaya community consisting of The religion in Singapore is varied. The Chinese population in Singapore follows Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. The Muslim religion in Singapore is also dominant as most of the Malays  form  15% of the population. Most of the Malayas  are Muslims. The Indians constitute only 7% of the total Singaporeans. The  Indians mostly follow the Hinduism. About 14% of the populations in Singapore who consider they to be free thinkers. These people do not belong to any religion in Singapore. Other religions in Singapore constitute the Jews, the Sikhs, the Zoroastrians as well as the Jains.

This diversity of religion in Singapore has become a signature  of its cultural  diversity.   This has given way to a number of religious buildings such as mosques, churches and Hindu temples as well as Sikh temples and Jewish synagogues, some of which have eventually become buildings of great historical significance. Some of the religious sites of Singapore include the Hajjah Fatimah Mosque, Kong Meng San Phon Kark See temple, Central Sikh.

Christianity in Singapore

Singapore is  a country  that  has  people  from  different ethnicities.  You  can find  Malaya  people,  Indians, Arabs, Chinese as  well as Eurasians  in  this  small  country  in Southeast  Asia.  these  people practice  different   religions and  are part of  different  community. The  religions  practiced in  Singapore  include Christianity, Hinduism,  Buddhism, and many  more.  Chirtianity is  one of the  most prominent  religion in  Singapore. you  will  find  numerous  churches  as well as  other  christian  institutions in this city-state.

Christianity first arrived on Singapore soon after the establishment of modern Singapore in the  year 1819. In half a year, the first Protestant missionary arrived on  Singapore to set up a local ministry.later the local  born  church leaders took  charge of the ministry. Several  theologicval  collegeswere also  established. These  colleges  were  set  up  to  educate and  produce more  and   more  next generation  leaders.  Soon  more churches  as well  as other christian organizations were established.  This  resulted into  a growth in the  followers  of Christianity in Singapore.  more  than  14%  of  the  population of  he  country follow  Chirstianity in Singapore.  almost one  third of the christian  population of the counrtry are  catholics  while  the  rest  of  them  are protestants.  Christianity  ois  considered as  one of  the  four main  religions in  Singapore.

The  Roman  Catholic  population of  Singapore consists  of Eurasians,  Chinese   and  Indians.  There are  30 Roman  Catholic  parishes in  different  parts of  Singapore sand  each  of them administer  a  particular district. Most of these catholic  parishes  are  directly involved  in social  services.  Some of them  are also encouraging the  creation of Small Christian  Communities. the National Council of Churches of Singapore is  the  umbrella organization under  which the  umbrella  organization for the   non-catholic  churches. 

Jainism in Singapore

Singapore is a multiethnic country that has become home to people from different parts of Asia. As they are from different ethnicities they also have distinct cultural identity of their own.  most  of the  ethnicities  practice different  religion  and  that makes  Singapore a  secular  country as well.  In this small country you can see diverse number religious groups.  The religions practiced in Singapore include Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism and many more.

Jainism refers to the religion practiced by the Jains. The Jains have settled in Singapore since the beginning of twentieth century. There is no historical data available on the exact date.  It is not clear whether the Jains were there at the beginning of the previous century. In the initial stage of settlement the Jains used to perform their religious rituals on individual  basis.  Later different religious buildings  and  institutions are built.  

Till the year 1953, there was free inflow of Jains to join their families in Singapore and there were no strict immigration rules.  Most of the Jain people are from India and they are highly influenced by the democratic ideas of India. The first committee was built in the year 1957 and the committee was named Panch.  Every year a new committee is established to organize and conduct Jain festivities as well as other religious functions. 

After the World War II the Jain community got organized and the religious activities are carried out at Waterloo Street.  After that the religious activities were performed at different rented venues.  Soon they felt the needed to have premises that they can call their own.  So they organized themselves and made a registered society named Singapore Jain Religious Society. Any Jain regardless of any  creed  can be  a  member  of the society. 

Buddhism in Singapore

Singapore  is one of the most well  known touistdestination in  sotueast  Asia.  thogh  a  small  country the city  state  is home  to  a  number of  ethnicities  and  cultures.  people  from different  parts  of Asia have made Singapore  their home. Each  of these communities  haver  their  own culture and  religious  practices.  They  also perform  different religions too.  the  religions that  are very  prominent in  Singapore  culture include Christianity,  Hinduism,  Islam and Buddhism. Buddhism is the  most  porminet religion in singapore.  a  large section  of  the popuation of  Singapore follow this religion. While  in Singapore  you  will be  able to see a wide array of buddhist temple,   shrines and monesteries.

The history  of  Buddhism in Singapore dates back to the Srivijayan times. The  researchers  have got some wevidences that ecen durinfg the  Srvijayan  era  Buddhism  was   present in  Singapore.  during  the past  few  decades  the  oldest Buddhist  school  of  thought has experienced a potential  growth in Singapore.  Buddhism  is  seen a s  the  most viable  religion  in Singapore.  almost  half of the  total  population in  singapore follow Buddhism today. Buddhist  teaching has  also  became  a thing  of  interest in recent  times. There are also  some  small  minorities like  Singhalese and Thai Buddhists.  Buddhism  in  singapore encompasses a number Buddhist  thoughts  and customs.  The chinese customs and traditions  have also find their  place in  the buddhism  practice in  Singapore.  there are also different  schools in Buddhism. The Mahayana school, Theravada school, and Tibetan Buddhism have acquired sizable followings.Mahayana Buddhism is the most prevalent form of Buddhism in Singapore.

In the  recent time  a  number of  buddhist publication is being realeased and as  a result  the buddhism has become quite popular  among the  younger  generations.  You  can  also find  a  number of  Buddhism  temples  and shrines  in Singapore where the  devotees  pay regular  visits.