- Hell’s Museum in Singapore is located at Haw Par Villa, and is completely devoted to the exploration of death and the afterlife.
- The museum has surreal dioramas that blend themes of karmic justice with cultural storytelling.
- Though the museum is largely focused on Buddhist beliefs, it includes the belief system of many cultures, including Christian, Hindu, and Islamic themes.
Most visitors to Singapore gravitate towards highlights like Gardens by the Bay or the Michelin-recognized hawker stalls. But if you take a detour to the southwest corner of the island, you’ll find a quirkier, unexpected side of Lion City.
Hell’s Museum at Haw Par Villa isn’t your typical tourist trap. Claiming to be the world’s first museum devoted entirely to death and the afterlife, it sprawls across 40,000 square feet within Singapore’s historic Tiger Balm Gardens. Built in 1937 by the eccentric Tiger Balm founders, brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, this 8.5-hectare themed park contains over 1,000 statues and 150 dioramas, and was intended to teach children fundamental Chinese myths and folktales. Its most famous installation? The 10 Courts of Hell.
“At its core, Haw Par Villa was a gift to the community from the Aw brothers,” says Toh Thiam Wei, chief storyteller of Indie Singapore tours, who has watched the site evolve over decades. “They wanted to create a space to teach traditional Chinese values and mythology in a way that was vivid and unforgettable. The entire park was their larger-than-life textbook.”
Although Har Paw Villa was initially dreamed up in the 1930s, it was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt during the 1950s. The city then heavily invested in modernizing the park in the ‘80s. The 10 Courts of Hell were once located in the belly of a giant dragon that visitors would ride boats into, passing scenes from the underworld along the way.
Now, the attraction is located within a completely air-conditioned space, and its messaging has evolved as well. What was once a ride designed to shock children into behaving has transformed into a thoughtful, curated exploration of how different cultures view death and the afterlife. The museum guides visitors through Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Islamic, and other global belief systems before culminating in the Buddhist 10 Courts of Hell. These surreal, blood-red dioramas depict the gruesome punishments awaiting sinners in the Chinese Buddhist afterlife.
“Beyond the graphic displays, they’re fundamentally about karmic justice and filial piety,” Wei explains. “Every punishment is linked to specific transgressions—from lying to disrespecting elders. It’s a visual representation that actions have consequences.”
For generations, a visit to Haw Par Villa served as a Singaporean rite of passage. “Taking photos with the kitschy statues was our version of Mickey Mouse,” Wei says. He adds that while younger visitors (and even ghost hunters) see the 10 Courts as a sort of macabre tourist destination, older guests feel deeply nostalgic about the attraction.
But despite being more than 90 years old, the 10 Courts still feel modern. To Toh, the thing that keeps the place current is its classic message.
“It stays true by not changing the core dioramas—the stories are timeless. It stays relevant by contextualizing them,” Wei says. “Framing this as a conversation about death was a brilliant move to me.”
While tour buses idle outside Marina Bay Sands, Haw Par Villa offers a reflective experience that shows a different side of Singapore. “In a city that’s so polished and modern, Haw Par Villa is wonderfully eccentric and unapologetically itself,” says Wei. “It’s a reminder that beneath our modern exterior lies rich diversity in culture and heritage. And that we can be quite fun when we want to be.”
The Hell Museum is open Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with tickets costing $20 for adults (half-price for children). Admission to the surrounding Haw Par Villa park is free.
