This morning I went to Little India with my fellow photography enthusiasts. As usual, the place was bustling with colours and movements; with the sounds from chants, bells and drums; the fragrance of jasmines and other flowers, and the scent wafting from a burning sandalwood incense. Little India is one of the more colourful places in Singapore, and a visit to a temple and the wet market nearby surely is a great way to experience this unique diversity.
On this visit, we covered the Sri Srinivasa temple, possibly the most stunning one in the area; its distinct, trapezoidal roof architecture is not easy to miss - it is made up of several tiers decked with colourful and elaborate statues of Gods and Goddesses. On a weekday, the temple is relatively more serene, and could be a perfect place for some quick meditation in the midst of the bustling area.
After the temple, we went to the fresh produce market nearby. There was no dearth of vibrancy there, with rows and rows of fresh produce stalls; boxes and crates of fresh greens (bitter gourd, spinach, etc), aubergines, pomegranates, the yellows (mangoes) and the oranges (carrots); and a great variety of flowers, roses in various colours, jasmines, ylang-ylang, which shop keepers deftly and artfully made into garlands for prayer offerings. Indeed, the market is a great place for macro shots. But I would say, more than the fresh produce and the vast variety of offerings, what added to our great experience were the happy and smiling folks - the shopkeepers and vendors who let us take pictures even as they themselves were busily setting up shop for the day, like the new guy taking stock of the fresh delivery of tomatoes but who could still spare me the peace sign; the others refilling empty boxes of cabbages/potatoes/onions but would instantly pose when requested; and a veteran who could quickly put together a colourful garland without so much as looking at his task, I wanted to take a motion-blurred picture but he was just too fast, he was done before I could press the shutter! Our favourite for the day though was the happy uncle who manned the news stand. He doesn't speak English much, but his smile that day conveyed openness perhaps better than any spoken language. Altogether they helped us reach our requisite "environmental or contextual shots" for the day, without so much of a sweat :-)
On this Thursday morning, the sky was overcast but the grounds more than made up for the lack of colour above.
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| Bell at the entrance of the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple. Visitors to the temple would normally ring this bell before entering. |
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| Flowers at the doorstep |
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| A drummer signals the start of a ceremony |
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| The roof of the temple with statues of Gods and Goddesses |
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| Kids on a field trip |
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| Produce at the market |
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| Flowers and garlands for prayer offering |
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| This is diya - it is used as lighting (with oil and wick) on special occasions like Diwali. |
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| A happy uncle mans his shop - one of the few magazine stands in town. Let's hope demand for hardcopy mags will stay strong. |
#LittleIndia #Singapore #yoursingapore
