The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore's Chinatown stops you in your tracks.

Built in 2007 in Tang Dynasty style at a cost of S$57 million, it houses what monks and devotees believe is a tooth of the Buddha himself, discovered in Myanmar in 1980. Sceptics note it seems rather long for a human tooth, but the faithful are undeterred: the relic sits on the fourth floor in a stupa cast from 320 kg of donated gold, worth S$45 million.

Funded entirely through donations, the temple feeds the needy with free vegetarian meals daily. Inside, the Hundred Dragons Hall centres on a Buddha Maitreya statue while incense drifts from the cauldron as devotees offer prayers.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours approach from both the rear courtyard and South Bridge Road entrance, tracing the temple's role as Chinatown's spiritual centrepiece and the community devotion that built it.