Are you looking for something different in a tourist attraction? How about something a little bit weird (and a bit scary if you’re a kid!) Haw Par Villa might be the place for you, it’s definitely one of the strangest places in Singapore!
The Ten Courts of Hell
For some reason I thought Buddhism was a peaceful religion. That all changed when I entered the Ten Courts of Hell exhibit at Haw Par Villa, Singapore. Models of decapitations, people getting thrown on spikes, chucked into pools of boiling blood and almost every other gruesome torture you can imagine greet those who enter. The fact that punishments for things like cheating on exams and wasting food seemed just as harsh as the ones for rape and murder confused me, and I walked out of the exhibit completely rethinking my view of Buddhism. In reality that view was based on almost nothing, as the only time I’ve come in contact with the religion is at temples, and I’m not really one to ask too many questions about the spiritual side of them; I just like how they look. The Ten Courts of Hell is definitely one of the scariest places in Singapore, make sure you visit but warn your children first!
