Sri Sivan Temple

The Sri Sivan Temple at Geylang East has a history spanning over 150 years and is one of the four temples managed by the Hindu Endowments Board (HEB).

It has been recorded that the Sri Sivan Temple was rebuilt as a solid structure in the early 1850s at the Orchard Road site, now occupied by the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station. The Sivalingam, a symbolic representation of Lord Siva, revered in Hindu worship, had already been in place at this site well before 1850.

Sri Sivan Temple was gazetted under the Mohammedan and Hindu Endowments Board in 1915. During the Second World War, some of the statues of secondary deities and parts of the temple structure were damaged by shells that landed nearby. Towards the end of the war, renovations were undertaken, and a consecration ceremony was held in 1943.

As part of the Orchard Road widening project, the temple relinquished some land in exchange for compensation and was subsequently rebuilt in 1962, with a consecration ceremony held in 1964. In 1983, due to the construction of the MRT station beneath the temple, a transit temple was built next to the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on Serangoon Road. All the deities from the Orchard Road temple were relocated to this temporary site, allowing for the continuation of daily prayers and festival celebrations.

The HEB, under whose management the Sri Sivan Temple now was, consulted renowned temple architects in India and constructed a new temple with a unique octagonal design. The new temple was built at a cost of $6 million on a 3,000-square-meter site, which is approximately four and a half times larger than the former Orchard Road location. After ten years at the temporary Serangoon Road site, the Sri Sivan Temple was consecrated at its present Geylang East location in 1993. Major festivals celebrated at the temple include Maha Sivarathiri and Guru Peryarchi.

The Sri Sivan Temple is well-known among Hindus in Singapore for post-death rituals, which involve several stages within the first month after death, and include annual remembrance rituals of the passing.



For more information
“Sri Sivan Temple.” Hindu Endowments Board. Accessed 1 August 2025. https://heb.org.sg/sst/
“Temple History.” Sri Sivan Temple. Accessed 1 August 2025. https://sst.org.sg/HEB/Template3/temple-history

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.