Located at 244 South Bridge Road, in the downtown Chinatown district, the temple serves the majority Hindu Singaporeans, Tamilians, in the city-state.

The Sri Mariamman Temple was founded in 1827 by Naraina Pillai, eight years after the East India Company established a trading settlement in Singapore.

This street ran alongside Telok Ayer Bay, where most early Asian immigrants first landed in Singapore, and where they went to pray and give thanks for a safe sea journey.

The Thian Hock Keng and Nagore Dargha Shrine, respectively Singapore's earliest Chinese and Indian Muslim places of worship, are located there.

However, Telok Ayer Street lacked a convenient source of fresh water which was needed for Hindu temple rituals.

In 1823, the current South Bridge Road site was finally granted to Pillai for the purposes of erecting a Hindu temple.

The text inscribed on this tablet reads: "The grant N:075 With its building transferred for charity sake to Cothunda Ramasamy by Sashasalapilly son of Cuddalore Amicarapoatrapilly Singapore March 1831".

The oldest parts of the existing brick structure date to 1843, and additions and alterations were subsequently made at various points in the history of the temple.

It is believed that most of this work, especially the elaborate plaster sculptures and ornamentation, were produced by skilled craftsmen from the Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu in South India.

[4] An elevated viewing gallery was added to the temple which is especially popular with spectators during the annual timiti (firewalking) festival.

The spacious building has a fully equipped auditorium and facilities for weddings, multimedia presentations, corporate meetings, seminars and cultural events.

Besides providing an important place of worship for these immigrants, the temple granted them shelter until they found work and more permanent accommodation.

The doors are studded with small gold bells arranged in a grid pattern, which devotees are supposed to ring as they move through.

Within the walled compound, the temple comprises a combination of covered halls, shrines and service areas, as well as courtyards open to the sky.

Leading directly from the gopuram entrance through a covered hall is the main prayer area, with richly ornamented columns and ceilings with frescoes.

The main prayer hall is surrounded by a series of free-standing shrines, housed in pavilion-like structures with decorated dome roofs, known as Vimana.