Haw Par Villa is actually a theme park located along Pasir Panjang Road specifically in Singapore. The park contains over 1,000 statues and also 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese mythology, folklore, legends, history, and illustrations of various Confucianism aspects. During the 1970s and 1980s, the park was a major local attraction as it is estimated that the park then welcomed at least 1 million annual visitors. It is indeed to be considered as part of Singapore’s cultural heritage. Even though it looks very exciting, this place is definitely not for the faint of heart.
It could be likened to a twisted, sinister Wonderland filled with disturbing and graphic displays. It was built by the Burma-born Aw brothers, who invented the medical ointment Tiger Balm, which is popular in the region. This place’s crowning glory would be the ’10 Courts of Hell’ display. It’s rumored that an actual Gate to Hell is hidden somewhere on the grounds and that the statues come to life when night falls. Security guards making their rounds at night have also reportedly said that they heard screams coming from the ’10 Courts of Hell’ display in there.
@visit_singaporeWe had a hell of a time 👁👁 #VisitSingapore #HellsMuseum #HawParVilla #Halloween2021
Apart from the famous ’10 Courts of Hell’ cave, the rest of the park is open-air. Statues and more dioramas pepper the sprawling grounds. Unless you are well-versed in Chinese mythology, you will probably find the figurines bizarre and also baffling human-headed animals, or just humanized animals in general. And many more gory scenes galore.
It would take about an hour and a half. It could also go up to 2 hours just to tour the whole place. If you are really interested in Chinese mythology however and want to read all the explanatory signs, you will need a little more time.
Sources: TikTok visit_singapore.
