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Witness / Attend in Little India
Thaipusam
Singapore's Tamil quarter along Serangoon Road, a loud, fragrant grid of Hindu temples, gold and sari shops, garland stalls and banana-leaf restaurants. It is the starting point of the Thaipusam procession, which sets off from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple each year.
No overall organizer. Hindu Endowments Board anchors the event; the rest belongs to the streets.
Dates & details verified against: Official event site ↗
Why here
Thaipusam is the most extraordinary act of devotion you can witness in Singapore, and Little India is where it begins. On the full-moon day of the Tamil month of Thai, Hindu devotees honour Lord Murugan by carrying kavadi, and the heaviest form is astonishing: a decorated steel frame borne on the shoulders, anchored to the body by dozens of skewers and hooks piercing the skin, some with spears through the cheeks and tongue, carried in a trance sustained by weeks of prayer and fasting. Others carry paal kudam pots of milk on their heads. Thousands walk the roughly three-kilometre route from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on Serangoon Road to the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple on Tank Road, cheered and chanted along by family and volunteers, through the night and into the day. The ritual symbolises surrender, penance and the personal journey of each devotee, and standing on the route as the kavadi bearers pass is a raw, humbling window into a living faith rather than a staged show.
Best months
Thaipusam is a single day set by the Tamil solar-lunar calendar, falling on the full moon of the month of Thai in January or February. Procession registration and the first walkers leave the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple from around 11.30pm the night before, and devotees must reach the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple by about 11pm on the day, so the flow runs through the night and across the following day. Upcoming dates: 1 February 2026 and 22 January 2027. Roads along the route close; the atmosphere is intense, crowded and reverent, so watch respectfully and follow the marshals.
Getting there & around
The starting temple, Sri Srinivasa Perumal, is a two-minute walk from Farrer Park MRT on Serangoon Road; the finishing temple, Sri Thendayuthapani, is near Fort Canning and Dhoby Ghaut MRT. You can watch free from any point on the route, with the temples at each end the most atmospheric but also the most crowded. Come well before dawn or through the morning for the fullest procession, carry water for the heat, dress modestly for the temples, and expect road closures across the Little India and Tank Road corridor.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
Hindu Endowments Board
OrganizerThe Hindu Endowments Board is the Singapore statutory board that manages several major Hindu temples and coordinates the annual Thaipusam procession with the Sri Srinivasa Perumal and Sri Thendayuthapani temples. It runs the official Thaipusam registration for kavadi and paal kudam bearers, works with government agencies on the route, barricades and safety, and publishes timings and guidance through the official Thaipusam Singapore channel.