Take a few hours to explore the Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, Singapore’s largest (12 buildings) and most stunning. ‘Don’t speak unless it improves the silence’ is the creed here, the resultant quiet a surreal counterpart to dragon-topped pagodas, shrines, plazas and lawns linked by Escher-like staircases.
On the premises is a large columbarium, several different halls devoted to various guises of the Buddha and even a dining hall that serves up free vegetarian meals to devotees. Finish your visit by reflecting under a bodhi tree beside the Hall of Precepts (the tree is claimed to be a descendant of the sacred bodhi tree at Buddha Gaya).
Buses 52 and 410 (white plate) run here from Bishan MRT station.
