Top 7 fun facts about the Merlion park in Singapore - Things you didn’t know about the icon of Singapore!

The work on the design of merlion was originally started in the year of 1963 and it was finalized and was declared as the symbol of Singapore tourism board in 1964, But Singapore became a city-state in the year of 1965 which makes the merlion a year older than the country.

The designer of the merlion was Fraser Brunner who was the curator of an aquarium known by the name Van Kleef Aquarium. It is said he studies the fish that are on display in the aquarium and he drew inspiration from the fish to create this iconic symbol.

The image of the merlion is an official property of the Singapore Tourism Board it was also the STB (Singapore tourism boards official logo for nearly 33 years. Though it is a copyrighted image many use the symbol in various places, the merlion image is used on souvenirs, and gift items such as chocolates, fridge magnets, pens, bags and more but bear in mind that the image and the publishing rights officially remains with the STB.

The merlion was originally placed at a different location from where it is today. It has to be relocated due to the city's development projects as new buildings and structures started covering up the splendrous statue. So the government decided to give the statue a dedicated space that could be visited by people and even could be seen from afar hence, it was placed at the merlion park. But the relocation was very difficult that it sounds – the statue was loaded onto a vessel and was hoised by a crane over the bridge of esplanade, loaded again onto the barge and was brought to its current location.

Measuring at a height of a whopping 37 meters, the Merlion in Sentosa island is the largest Merlion statue in the world. It was designed by an Australian artist – James martin and was completed in 1995. Visitors could also visit inside the statue and could take an elevator that goes up to the viewing galleries that are located at the topmost part of the statue.

During the month of February 2009, the Merlion statue was struck by lightning and parts of its mane were cracked and shattered. This resulted in the park closing down for a maintenance break - the statue was replastered, repaired and was eventually re-opened in the moth of March 2009.

Being a popular attraction in Singapore you could visit the park by taxi from any part of the city. It is also located at proximity to Clarke Quay hotels in Singapore the likes of Park Hotel Clarke Quay from which the park is just a stroll away!