Quora Answer: Why is Singapore Nicknamed the Lion City?

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “Why is Singapore nicknamed Lion City?”

Singapore is from “Singa Pura”, which is Sanskrit for “Lion City”.  According to legend, Singapore was founded by a Palembang prince from the Sri Vijaya Empire, named Sang Nila Utama.  He came, slept under a tree, and was awakened when he encountered a lion.  All this, despite the fact that there is no historical or palaeozoological evidence that there ever was a species of lion on this tropical island.  I would speculate that it was the habit of the Chola and the breakaway Sri Vajaya Empires to name important cities “Naga Pura”, meaning “Dragon City”; and “Singa Pura” was a reactive name to that, denoting its political importance.