View allAll Photos Tagged HawParVilla
The Tiger Balm Gardens, nowadays known as Haw Par Villa, are one of Singapore's most unique and iconic sites, a Chinese mythological sculpture park filled with colourful tableaux of vivid, often truly bizarre imagery.
It was begun in 1937 by the two Aw brothers (Boon Haw - Gentle Tiger, and Boon Par - gentle Leopard) who had found fortune marketing their father's popular invention, Tiger Balm, hence the original name of the park. Their intention was to create an educational theme park dedicated to Chinese culture, bringing to life various scenes from Chinese myth and legend, along with Buddhist themes such as virtue and vice, reincarnation and hell. It was intended for free public access, for families to learn from and enjoy.
The park was taken over by the local authorities in 1979 and sadly it's revamp in the 1980s was not a happy one, as it was decided to make it into a paying visitor attraction through transformation into the 'Dragon World' amusement park, which entailed some of the original tableaux and sculptures being removed to make way for rides, and hefty entrance fees introduced, never part of the founders' vision.
Over the years visitor numbers decreased sharply and the amusement park elements were eventually dismantled, leaving the sculptures as the main attraction once more and the park is again free to enter, though sadly short of visitors compared to the height of it's popularity when whole crowds thronged the place in the 1960s. Part of the problem lies in it's distance from the centre of Singapore, though with the new Haw Par Villa MRT station opening next door in 2011 getting there now couldn't be easier.
The Tiger Balm Garden was somewhere I'd longed to see since childhood, having heard my parents descriptions with their photos of this fascinating, surrealist landscape of exotic sculpture (their last address in Singapore was a flat not far away on Pasir Panjang Road). It is a great pity a few of the pieces they photographed have since vanished, but the bulk remains as it was, and to finally be visiting it myself was an amazing experience, there was simply no question of us leaving Singapore until we'd done it!
www.kuriositas.com/2011/01/haw-par-villa-unusual-singapor...
Zhang Fei, Liu Bei and Guang Yu met in Zhou country and took the oath of fraternity, thus become sworn brothers from the Three Kingdoms during the late Eastern Han Dynasty at the Haw Par Villa.
Haw Par Villa, originally known as Tiger Balm Gardens, was open in 1937 by the Haw Brothers, famed as the tiger balm kings from Rangoon (Yangon, Myanmar). Boon Haw had a unique vision of a grand mansion and gardens for his brother which eventually becomes reality. His noble aim was to immortalise and share the moral values behind the various chinese legends by decorating the grounds.
SAMSUNG CSC
MANSION IN HAW PAR VILLA
This mansion was part of Haw Par Villa from 1937 to 1945.
It was a special gift from AW BOON HAW to his beloved younger brother, AW BOON PAR.
On its opening in March 1937, many guests were invited to the grand reception hosted by AW BOON PAR, the lord of the manor.
The house had six rooms comprising a central hall, two bedrooms, a drawing room, a dressing room and a dining room. Over the rooms was a roof shaped by six encircling domes and a central dome. It was designed by architect HO KWONG YEW.
The mansion was built when three other large houses that the Aw brothers owned (at Tanglin and Pasir Panjang areas) were found to have insufficient space for their families. Unfortunately, after about eight years of existence, it had to be demolished due to ravages caused by World War II.
Wikipedia: Haw Par Villa
These ladies were originally naked when sculpted in the 1930s. Public outcry for decency got bikinis painted onto them, later modified into halter tops, then pants were added to the figures.
The innards of the dragon in the Tiger Balm Gardens depict in horrific and grisly form what happens once a person dies and goes to hell. Here is one of the milder depictions: a man kneeling before the Devil..(Aug. 2002)(Loss of colour and quality due to scan from print: photo was taken on 35mm film).
The Tiger Balm Gardens, nowadays known as Haw Par Villa, are one of Singapore's most unique and iconic sites, a Chinese mythological sculpture park filled with colourful tableaux of vivid, often truly bizarre imagery.
It was begun in 1937 by the two Aw brothers (Boon Haw - Gentle Tiger, and Boon Par - gentle Leopard) who had found fortune marketing their father's popular invention, Tiger Balm, hence the original name of the park. Their intention was to create an educational theme park dedicated to Chinese culture, bringing to life various scenes from Chinese myth and legend, along with Buddhist themes such as virtue and vice, reincarnation and hell. It was intended for free public access, for families to learn from and enjoy.
The park was taken over by the local authorities in 1979 and sadly it's revamp in the 1980s was not a happy one, as it was decided to make it into a paying visitor attraction through transformation into the 'Dragon World' amusement park, which entailed some of the original tableaux and sculptures being removed to make way for rides, and hefty entrance fees introduced, never part of the founders' vision.
Over the years visitor numbers decreased sharply and the amusement park elements were eventually dismantled, leaving the sculptures as the main attraction once more and the park is again free to enter, though sadly short of visitors compared to the height of it's popularity when whole crowds thronged the place in the 1960s. Part of the problem lies in it's distance from the centre of Singapore, though with the new Haw Par Villa MRT station opening next door in 2011 getting there now couldn't be easier.
The Tiger Balm Garden was somewhere I'd longed to see since childhood, having heard my parents descriptions with their photos of this fascinating, surrealist landscape of exotic sculpture (their last address in Singapore was a flat not far away on Pasir Panjang Road). It is a great pity a few of the pieces they photographed have since vanished, but the bulk remains as it was, and to finally be visiting it myself was an amazing experience, there was simply no question of us leaving Singapore until we'd done it!
www.kuriositas.com/2011/01/haw-par-villa-unusual-singapor...