Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Nine Emperor Gods Festival

Last nite was the eve of the ninth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. And that was the nite where the temple would hold a ceremony to welcome the Nine Emperor Gods (Kow Ong Yah in Hokkien) in a festival called the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. People actually come all the way from Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand because of this. Amazing.

Since the arrival of the Nine Emperor Gods is believed to be through the waterways, processions are held from temples to the sea-shore or river to symbolise this belief. It was a major celebration for Chinese and the roads were actually closed for public with the presence of the cops and security volunteers when they walked to the river last nite. I get the chance to witness it all from my condo because the temple is located close by. And of cos i cant just watched the whole ceremony without taking a few shots to share with u guys!


Let the ceremony began with a few trucks decorated with lights.


A close up of what they have at the back of the truck. Lions of cos...


Dragon dances, with lights on its eyes.


The devotees on their way to the river.


Lots of them. Dont play-play.

My mom loves to watch these kind of ceremony. When we were still staying at old house, further from the temple, she would asked me or my bro to drive her to join the crowd. We were reluctant of cos, because the road would be jam packed. Last nite, she was like a happy kid watching fireworks... haha.

5 comments:

laymank said...

Wow! With technologies and social advancements, the processions are now equiped with more attractive lightings! For a while, the lights look like light sabers. hehehe...

I will be able to see something like this (Thaipusam) after I moved. And I think Thaipusam's procession is even larger amount than Kao Ong Yah. I dreaded to think about the traffic. Could be stucked and cannot go home. :(

Jane said...

laymank: you think u in star wars mer?

well, traffic jan is the most dreaded situation for everyone. that is why i go back home punctually these few days. wanna get home before all the crowd start to build up.

Simple American said...

What a neat view. Your condo is really in a prime location hor?

Jane said...

sa: well, quite a prime spot for "traffic jam"..

myfivesen said...

Is this temple the "New Ampang Village" theStar Metro been highlighting this/last wk?

There seems to be a lot ppl everywhere now, no exceptions. Need to time entry and exit to at least avoid/lessen the crowd impact.