It was also a refuge and shelter for newly arrived Indian immigrants until they found accommodation and work. Sri Mariamman Temple was not only a religious house for the Hindu community. In 1915, the firm Swan & Maclaren was appointed to design a new sheltered walkway between the entrance tower and the main building, following the 1910 fire which destroyed the former attap-covered walkway. Highly skilled craftsmen from India and even China were employed for the building project. The oldest sections of the present brick structure were constructed circa 1843. A granite slab in the temple commemorates this donation. The temple compound was enlarged when an Indian landowner, Seshasalam Pillai, gave some of his land to the temple. The temple was also known as ‘Kling Temple’ in the past, as Kling (sometimes spelt as Keling or Kelenga) was a common term that referred to southern Indians, particularly the Tamils. She is also worshipped for her powers in curing epidemic diseases such as cholera. The chief deity of the temple, Sri Mariamman, is associated with the sustaining and life-giving properties of rain (in Tamil, maari means rain, and amman, mother). A wood-and-attap structure was erected on the site by 1827. In 1823, the present site on South Bridge Road was granted and set aside in Singapore’s first town plan which was drawn up by Lieutenant Philip Jackson. However, the Town Planning Committee later found this site unsuitable as it had other plans for it. Colonel William Farquhar, Resident of Singapore, permitted Pillai to build the temple near Freshwater Stream (Stamford Canal today). However, this was rejected by the Hindu community because there was no convenient supply of freshwater, required for rituals, in the vicinity. Initially, the British East India Company had allotted a plot on Telok Ayer Street for a Hindu temple. Sri Mariamman Temple was founded by Indian pioneer Naraina Pillai, a government clerk from Penang who was in the company of Sir Stamford Raffles on the latter’s second visit to Singapore in 1819. In particular, Sri Mariamman Temple represents not just the age-old beliefs and customs of the Hindus, but also stands as a memorial to the philanthropic deeds of early Tamil pioneers. Both monuments testify to the significant Tamil population that once lived in the vicinity, and are constant reminders of their contributions to Singapore’s development as a British colony. Together with Jamae Mosque, Sri Mariamman Temple – Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple – is an enduring icon on South Bridge Road which is a part of Chinatown.