My bf and I visited Singapore back in November 2015 for a very fulfilling purpose, which I will tell you about in my NEXT post ;)
I've always wanted to visit Haw Par Villa, a "theme park" which contains over 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese mythology, folklore, legends, and Confucianism aspects.
view right after the exit from the HPV MRT stop |
Park map |
Yours truly at the main entrance |
The park, originally called Tiger Balm Gardens, was built in 1937 by the Burmese-Chinese brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, the developers of Tiger Balm, as a venue for teaching traditional Chinese values. They moved their business from Burma to Singapore in 1926 and purchased the site in 1935.
A sad fact of the park is that it isn't very well maintained, and many statues and such have faded but you can still see what it originally was, as well as imagine it back when it was in its full glory. Entrance is free.
My BF has been there many, many years ago when he was still a child and his parents took him there to scare him to being a better person (last resort huh?). Why do I say "scare"?
Perhaps the most (in)famous and most well known point of the park,"Ten Courts of Hell".
The Ox-Headed (right) and Horse-Faced (left) Hell Guards stand guard at the entrance. It features gruesome depictions of Hell in Chinese mythology and Buddhism.
Once you enter the "cave", it is really dark and you will be greeted by the most horrifyingly graphic sculptures and statues. In Chinese folklore, they have a very specific kind of hell for specific kinds of sins. And man, are they PAINFUL. Just to even LOOK at. or imagine.
There is a full-length detailed depiction online here: http://wheresidewalksend.com/court-of-hell/
I took a couple of videos from inside:
I saw a family carrying their little son inside, and the little boy was just crying his heart out because it was really creepy inside and his parents' reassurances "See what happens if you cheat in your exams or lie!" sealed it good. Ha!!
Bridge above the large pond |
The Pagoda |
This zone has many prominent statues of the Buddha and the Goddess of Mercy (wide contrast from the Ten Courts of Hell!)
My BF's #squad |
With the 三星!
From Wiki:
The Sanxing (三星 "Three Stars"), who are Fu, Lu, and Shou (simplified Chinese: 福禄寿; traditional Chinese: 福祿壽; pinyin: Fú Lù Shòu), or Cai, Zi and Shou (財子壽), are the personified ideas of Prosperity (Fu), Status (Lu), and Longevity (Shou) in the Chinese traditional religion.
Naturally I went for Fu (Prosperity) Lol
Found myself a wishing well. My BF and I never let a wishing well go. Or a wishing pond. Or anything really that we can make wishes at.
Journey to the West:
Next you will see the statues of Xuan zang and his journey to the West. Journey to the West is one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. The author is Wu Cheng en. The novel is a fiction and depicts the legendary pilgrimage of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang. The monk travelled from China to the West in search of the Buddhist scriptures. The monk was assisted by his three disciples during the journey and these three disciples were Sun Wukong, Zhu Ba jie and Sha Wu jing. Xuanzang rode on a white horse and along the journey he was attacked by demons but his disciples came to his aid. Journey to the West is reminiscent of Chinese mythology and folklore. -Tripadvisor
Spotted!! |
Only one photo from the Hilltop:
with the Goddess of Mercy |
This is also a very well-documented page to learn more about Haw Par Villa: http://dejiki.com/2013/07/haw-par-villa-photowalk-the-hilltop/
Til next time!
Hi! I’m Thien from Vietnam. Thanks greatly for your sharing! That’s really helpful! Have you visited Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam yet? Remember to take a Hanoi handicraft village tour to fullfil your experience.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you in Vietnam!