Deepavali Lights @ Little India!

Hey everyone!

This week, we popped by Little India to observe and capture Deepavali lights adorned along Serangoon Road! The yearly tradition of installing bright, colourful light banners attracts many photographers, and we certainly did not want to miss out on the occasion!

Little India is one of the liveliest areas in Singapore, with a growing bustling crowd each night! It is a popular tourist spot, and one can find Indian cuisines and garments easily there. Little India is also the site of a popular 24-hour shopping mall called Mustafa Shopping Centre, and they sell almost everything that one needs!

Deepavali (or Diwali) is a major festival celebrated by Hindus worldwide, and signified as the victory of light over darkness. It is commonplace for lights to be symbolic placed around houses, buildings and temples. As Singapore is a multi-cultural society, we are aware of some of the major festivals celebrated by the different races/religions in Singapore, and which has been gazetted as a public holiday.

We were also excited for this trip because we were going to try our brand new Impossible I-1 camera! As this was the first time we were using the I-1, we were cautious about our expectations, but the camera impressed us overall! Further, the Gen 3.0 Colour film develops much faster than the previous Impossible films, allowing us to review our snapshots much earlier! Anyway, let’s get down to exploring Little India!

In the Day…

Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple: Here, we have the hindu goddess Kali from behind the fence!

One of many signs spotted along Little India – Liquor Control Zone.

Mustafa Centre: as mentioned, this is Singapore’s only (?) 24-hour shopping centre, well-known for selling affordable products of almost every kind!

Mahatma Gandhi Library! The best place to learn the Hindu language 🙂

The Residence of Tan Teng Niah: Here is Mr Tan’s 8-room colourful Chinese shop house located in the heart of Little India.

In the Night!

Catching a long exposure of passing traffic and human beings; it sure wasn’t easy doing so without a tripod!

The majestic peacock rises! Hindus associate the peacock with Lakshmi, a deity who represents patience, good luck, compassion, kindness and benevolence.

At the entrance of Serangoon Road, the light installation welcomes all!

These info-boards can be found in historical and cultural sites, providing knowledge about the location nearby!

As mentioned, Little India comes alive at night, with many locals and foreigners exploring or just milling around. The light installations above the roads clearly depict two peacocks facing a *padma* (sacred lotus).

In the midst of a night market: many Hindu artifacts can be seen on sale: the *torans* (door hangings), diyas (lamps) and other lanterns.

Various *torans* adorning the roof of the night market.

We noticed this heritage centre, but could not go in as it was closed; oh well, next time!

Ready, steady, aim; we love the bokeh of the fairy lights in the background!

image-53c — Traditional mailboxes for the people who stay in shophouses!

image-53e — This was the shot we took with the I-1; the red streaks being the tail lights of the passing cars.

The Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple at night.

As mentioned last week, we have been quite busy with our own work, and we are so glad that we took time off our busy schedules to take photos and write about it here! Little India is an important heritage site for Singapore, and is a hidden gem of surprises and adventures worth scouting. Further, the light installations for Deepavali will not be there forever (it ends on November 12), so now would be a good time to bring down your gear and snap away!

Till next time,

Damianwithsandra