Contributed by Hua Yi Secondary School

Subject Sri Arulmigu Murugan Hindu Temple
Date Established: 1990s
Address: 281 Jurong East St. 21, Singapore (609605)
Division: Yuhua

Description:

The temple is named after a deity, Arulmigu Murugan, because it is a popular god for South Indians, among the other gods like Lord Shiva, Nine Planets, Lord Ganesha.

The History

The land was bought in 1993 from the government, following that a temporary shelter was built in 1994. Due to insufficient funds the plan for a new temple was shelved until 1998.
The second phase was to build a multi-storey workplace as well as the temple proper.
The building of the temple was finally completed in 2003 and was officially opened in 2005.

Why Choose Jurong?

The idea was mooted back in 1960s by a small group of Hindu devotees in Jurong who wanted a Hindu temple here. At that time the existing Hindu temples were at Serangoon Road or South Bridge Road.

The Art Work

It took 5 years to do the artwork by professionals who rendered their services for free.
Every single masterpiece in the temple has a meaning, eg, Lord Murugan’s spearhead symbolizes that we must be open minded and remain focused in life. The spearhead resembles a spade which is wide at the bottom and pointed at the top.

The Facts

The temple is run by volunteers, except for the priests who came all the way from South India.
The temple has a congregation size of 5,000 worshippers a month with a high number of Indians and Chinese devotees.
They conducts health screenings, monthly food distribution, cash handouts and bursary schemes for the needy.
The temple is funded by many indian philanthropies which include Mr. Singam who donated donated a large sum of money and one of the Indian devotees even donated his CPF money and the proceeds of the sale of his HDB flat to temple.

Interviewee: Mr Rajaranthan (President)
Date Taken: 18 June 2007
Recorded by: Patrick
Interviewers: Guan Yuan, Eleanor