Indian Heritage Centre

The Indian Heritage Centre opened in 2015 in a purpose-built block on Campbell Lane, its glass and aluminium facade designed to reference a baoli, the Indian stepwell, and lit at night so the pattern reads from the street. Inside, four galleries cover the movement of people between South Asia and Southeast Asia, the early Indian communities in Singapore, their work and their social and political life, with objects including a nineteenth-century Chettinad doorway.

What you actually see

• The stepwell facade - a glass front referencing an Indian baoli, lit at night.
• The Chettinad doorway - a carved nineteenth-century door in the collection.
• The migration galleries - the movement of people between South Asia and the region.
• The Little India setting - the museum at the centre of the quarter it documents.

When to go

Year round; the museum closes on Mondays. Deepavali fills the surrounding streets with lights and markets. Evening is when the facade lighting works.

Honest expectations

The museum is small and two hours covers it comfortably. Some galleries are text-heavy. It is a national narrative and reads as one in places.

Nearby

Tekka Centre is nearby, and Sri Veeramakaliamman is on Serangoon Road.