The area that is bounded by Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street boast three major houses of worship. The earliest is the Nagore Durgha Shrine. The land on which the shrine stands was granted to Kaderpillai in 1827. Between 1828 to 1830, Southern Indian Muslims and the Chulias from the Coromandel Coast built a shrine known originally as Shahul Hamid Durgha, in memory of a holy man from Nagore, South India. The shrine was also known as Masjid Moulana Mohammad Ally and was one of the earliest houses of worship in Singapore.
In 1839 the Hokiens under the leadership of Mr Tan Tock Seng and Mr Si Hoo Keh began work on the Thian Hock Keng. The Temple was completed in 1840 and the community which had hitherto worshipped mainly at the Heng Shan Teng Temple in Silat Road move its religious focus to Telok Ayer Street. The main hall of the Temple is dedicated to Ma Zu, protector of sea men and sea farers (that is, those who cross the sea to settle in Nanyang or Southeast Asia). A second hall is dedicatewd to the worship of Guan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Mercy.
A third temple that is of equal importance is the Siong Cho Keong (Xian Zu Gong) which was completed in 1869. The hall is dedicated to the worship of Shakyamuni Buddha, Guan Yu and various hsiens or tutelary spirits flanked by Ma Zu and Toh Peh Kuan. The worship of Toh Peh Kuan is particularly important since he is the guardian spirit of Singapore.
These three houses of worship shape and govern the yearly and daily ritual of spirit and living in Amoy Street and Telok Ayer Street.
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