Indian Heritage Centre

The Indian Heritage Centre is a National Heritage Board museum on the history of the Indian community in Singapore and Southeast Asia, at 5 Campbell Lane in Little India, a short walk from Exit E of Little India MRT station. Opened in May 2015, it has five permanent galleries on levels 3 and 4 that run from the 1st century CE, when trade and religious ideas first moved between South and Southeast Asia, to the 21st century. The four-storey building's facade is modelled on the baoli, the Indian stepwell, with stairs and balconies linking the galleries, and after dark it lights up as a mural of Little India.

A visit starts with a short multimedia show. The Roots and Routes gallery opens with the carved wooden entrance of a Chettinad house and displays ceremonial gold, rubies and textiles; later galleries cover pioneers such as Navroji R. Mistri, the Indian independence movement's echoes in Singapore and Malaya, the aftermath of the Second World War and Indian contributions to modern Singapore. Admission is free for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, and other visitors buy a ticket. The building also houses a Singapore Visitor Centre. The centre is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm and closed on Mondays, so it pairs well with Tekka Centre and Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple nearby.