Pagoda Street, Singapore

Pagoda Street, Singapore (29 July 2017)

Pagoda Street is a street in the Chinatown neighbourhood of Outram, Singapore. Today turned into a pedestrian zone, Pagoda Street runs from South Bridge Road in the east to New Bridge Road in the west. Today the western end of Pagoda Street is a sheltered arcade leading towards the Chinatown MRT Station, Chinatown Garden Bridge and People's Park Complex. There are stalls on both sides of the streets selling souvenirs and religious paraphernalia. Within the hustle and bustle is the Chinatown Heritage Centre, which offers a glimpse of Singapore in its early years.

Despite its name, Pagoda Street was not named after the pagoda of a Chinese temple - and there aren't any Chinese temples along that street. Instead it was a misnaming of the gopuram of the Sri Mariamman Temple. The gopuram are multi-tier towers that are a feature of Hindu temples, particularly those of southern India. They have somehow been mistaken for the pagoda.

Pagoda Street was a working class neighbourhood in the 19th century. The earliest houses had thatch roofs. These were replaced by building shophouses at the turn of the 20th century. The area housed coolies who found work at the harbour. Many of them arrived in Singapore towards the third quarter of the 19th century from Guangdong Province in Chinese, escaping poverty and the turbulence of the Taiping Rebellion.