Waiting for the Emperor's Return - Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2016

Today is the day we wait for the Emperor's Return...

The now empty passageways and prayer halls will soon fill with devotees seeking the blessings
of the Nine Emperor Gods.

Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 1 More Day

Q: I went to one of those Nine Emperor Gods temple and OMG I saw what looked like shrunken heads on sticks being worshiped at an altar. Like are they some headhunter shrunken head worshiping cult???

A: LOL, those are not shrunken heads, even though they look like it. Those heads on sticks represent the Five Directional Generals that guard the space/temple. They are found in Taoist/Shennist temples and is part and parcel of the many rituals that go on in these places.

1 MORE DAY

Tomorrow (Friday 30 Sept 2016) is the eve of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival for 2016. In many temple that celebrate the festival, tomorrow will be the day that they raise the pole for the 9 lanterns that represents the Nine Emperor Gods presence on Earth. So this is the last of the countdown series for Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2016.

This post is a tribute to Cheryl J Hoffmann,who had inspired me to take photographing Nine Emperor Gods Festival to the next level. And on that note, if you need info on the schedule for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival at Ampang, do check out her site, and be inspired by her photos and stories of this festival:

Nine Emperor Gods Festival by Cheryl Hoffmann @CJH Photography 

Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 2 More Days

Q: I see a lot of yellow lanterns being used, as well as items coloured yellow. I thought Chinese love red stuff?

A: Whilst red is an auspicious colour, yellow is the colour of the Emperor, a royal colour so to speak. Hence the use of yellow for everything Nine Emperor Gods.

Q: OMG, why do they have such bizarre piercings? I mean things like bicycles, ceiling fans and samurai swords???

A: Ahhh, you must have seen those Thai spirit mediums. They do the piercings with such bravado and theatrics that makes Thai Nine Emperor Gods Festival (particularly Phuket) attract so many people who come to see the spectacle with their own eyes. Some temples over here do invite them over, and towards the northern parts of Peninsular Malaysia, they are more common, the bizarre piercings and body cutting.

2 MORE DAYS

Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 3 More Days

Q: When is usually the best time to visit this festival

A: If you want to see the crowd, people and activities, night time are usually the best, or whenever they have specific prayers or a procession. The timing for these activities will differ from temple to temple, and it is best to find out from the temple or their webpage/Facebook.

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 4 More Days

Q:Why does he go prancing about around the temple and dancing on the stage?

A: The spirit medium is possessed by the Nine Emperor God, and he goes around inspecting and blessing the grounds of the temple to ensure all is well. And yes, he does have some pretty awesome moves; Heaven must have a dance club that really rocks.

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 5 More Days

Q: I see that the devotees go off in a procession at the beginning of the festival with mediums, urns and whatnot, where on earth are they headed to?

A: They are off to invite the Nine Emperor Gods to the temple. They don't come flying in on Air Force One or some chartered royal jets; but have to be invited from a body of water, be it the sea or river or lake.

PS - A friend of mine says even monsoon drains are used... Looks like the Emperor can't be picky in this modern age, ahahahaha.

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 6 More Days

Q:What is that pair of red wooden block that I see them throwing around, the ones with one side rounded and the other side being flat.

A: They are a type of divination blocks called jiao bei.

Q: So what answers do they get from throwing those blocks?

A: Put it simply, a YES, NO or LOL (yes seriously the gods do laugh at the questions asked).

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 7 More Days

Q: What do the devotees do during the festival?

A: In a nutshell; Eat, Sleep, Pray. They go on a strict bland vegetarian diet, some move into rooms/dorms within the temple for the entire 9 days of the festival and pray several times a day to purify themselves and obtain the blessings of the Nine Emperor Gods

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 8 More Days

Q: Where can you find the Nine Emperor Gods Festival?

A: The festival is associated with the South-East Asia Chinese diaspora, hence the celebration can be found in certain parts of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and certain parts of Indonesia.

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 9 More Days

Q: Why stage Chinese opera, especially when no one is even bothered to watch?
A: The opera is part and parcel of Chinese temple celebrations, and is a form of ritual offering to the deities, as entertainment. Hence the show goes on even though no one watches them.

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 10 More Days

Q: Why do Nine Emperor Gods devotees wear all white?

A: As a symbol of purity and humility, and also possibly a symbol of mourning.

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Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown - 11 More Days

The time for Nine Emperor Gods Festival is fast drawer near. So each day I will post a photo of the festival from previous years to mark the countdown to the eve of the festival.

Q: When does the Nine Emperor Gods Festival starts?

A: For 2016, the first day of the festivals falls on Oct 1

Q: Why countdown to the eve of the festival and not the actual day?

A: Many activities associated with the festival starts on the eve of the festival, which falls on Sept 30 2016.

11 MORE DAYS

Tips On The Run - shooting Chinese temple fairs and deity celebration

I have been doing a fair share of photographing Chinese temple fairs and processions in the past few years. It all started with trying to photograph the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Ampang, and that end up becoming a staple part of my photography, ie doing temple celebrations of deities birthdays, temple openings and various processions associated with temples such as Nine Emperor Gods or Hungry Ghost Festival

Leading the way... the Nezha medium leading the procession with firecrackers along the streets
of Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. You need to be up in front and running with them to shoot him in
action, so good shoes and comfortable clothing is essential. And a bit of courage to face the...
flying firecrakers

Even though it sounds easy, photographing such events are not as simple as it seems. For one, there is the issue of access and boundaries, since they are conducting a religious rites and we should be respectful. Next is the official videographer/photographer, courtesy dictates that he or she would have priority. Then there is the eager crowd, hell bent to get in on a bit of the action. Lastly, the pace of the events and also the locations or spots than you can shoot from. Of course the final million dollar question is what you want to get from shooting these events: Is it the people, the action, the colours or rites?

So there are a few things that one should be ready for when going in to shoot such events. So I have listed down 7 tips that can help in getting the shot that you want:

1. Know the event and timings and go early - they usually start a little later than the stipulated time, but once in a blue moon, they will start early. Also good to be there before the crowd comes.
2. Bring water and candy if the event goes on for a long time (like a long procession) If you don't mind food from the temple, you can usually get at least water and candy from most of these events, or they would have F&B outlets.
3. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and bring a towel to wipe sweat or rain.
4. Spare batteries and spare cards
5. Temple joss urns are good spots to shoot - the combination of smoke, fire and people.
6. Paper burnings at the end of the festivals/celebration are great for fire shots, just watch where you stand and the heat
7. Be polite and respectful as it is their celebration and ritual, even when others are not respectful; you do not want to be labeled as the bastard that disrupted the ceremony.

So there you go, seven little things to consider and most important of all, enjoy the experience. After all, what is the point of shooting it if you yourself, the image maker, didn't enjoy the festivities; you can't expect those who view your images to like it if you don't, right?

Below are a few photos taken at the recent Monkey God birthday celebration in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.

Offering of prayers at temples along the procession route for the Monkey God Festival in
Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.

Burning the talisman to end the
trance session.

Minding the joss-urn at the Monkey God temple
in Setapak.

Heave ho... Carrying the deities on palanquins for a walk.

I whip my (flywhisk) hair back
and forth.

Talisman

Talisman written by a medium in trance with a Javanese (Hindu) Datuk spirit. The first character written (closer to the front) looks like the character OM used in Hindu-Buddhist mantras. This shot is taken in Manual mode, and the RAW file processed by increasing the exposure about 2 stops. The resultant file is then adjusted with one Levels layer and one Exposure layer to even out the contrast difference in Photoshop.

Azimat ini ada OMmmm (this talisman have OM, ie power) - 100mm, f/6.3, 1/60sec, ISO 1000.

Happenings - Upcoming Photowalks

Upcoming in Sept - October are two global photowalk events. The first of the two is the 4th 500px Red Bull photowalk, held on Saturday, 17th Sept 2016. Obviously with Red Bull as the partner, the photowalk has got to do with action and adventure. Click here to find out more about this photowalk (event ended) Lucky Klang Valley folks have two walk locations that they can register for, one in downtown KL and another at Subang Jaya.

The next one, less than half a month later is the more established one is the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk, and I believe this year would be the 9th installation of this popular photowalk, held on Oct 1st, 2016.

For folks in Kuala Lumpur, there are currently two walk leaders in this area, with one in downtown KL (as usual) and another starting at Ampang old town to the famous Nine Emperor Gods Temple.A dear friend of mine, Cheryl, is leading the one at Ampang, so I would recommend her walk to anyone as she is highly knowledgeable of the area and the Nine Emperor Gods Festival is on at that time, giving lots of photo opportunities there - so click on this link (Pekan Ampang and The Nine Emperor Gods Festival (event ended link expired) and have a look at the details of the photowalk.

Nine Emperor Gods Festival @ Ampang - exciting,
vibrant and fun.

Are You Hungry Tonight??? - Hungry Ghost Festival

The Chinese believe that during the 7th lunar month that usually falls in July-August, hungry ghosts are allowed to roam the world in order to satiate their desire and hunger for food and materialistic needs. Therefore food and ritualistic offerings are prepared for these roaming, hungry spirits in order to keep peace with them and also perhaps extract a favour or two as well.

Lanterns signal an ongoing
Hungry Ghost festival -
Sentul 2016

Offering prayers to the King of Hades (Da Shi Yeh) -
Ampang Mewah 2016

The Hungry Ghost festival or also known as Ullambana by the Chinese Buddhist is actually not confined to the Chinese alone. The Bon festival (where you get to see the Bon-Odori dance) is the Japanese version of this Hungry Ghost Festival. The concept of the festival, whether Chinese/Taoist or Buddhist remains the same, ie offerings of relief (in the form of food, material belongings or merits) to these suffering beings known as hungry ghost.

Priest conducts prayers for the spirits of the departed in conjunction with the festival -
Ampang Mewah 2016

The face Da Shi Yeh catching fire as he was being burnt
at the end of the 15 day celebration in
Bukit Mertajam (2015)

In South-East Asian countries with a high number of ethnic Chinese, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and certain parts of Thailand, you can see such offerings being given to these spirits on the roadside as well as in temples and makeshift altars set up specifically for the festival. The make-shift altars, known as Phor Thor (or Universal Deliverance Prayers) comes with a large amount of food, paper offerings and huge paper effigies of the King of Hades or Da Shi Ye and his retinue of underworld deities and officers to keep watch of the roaming hungry ghost to prevent any  incidence of mischief by them.

The famous Bukit Mertajam Da Shi Yeh

Opening the eyes of Da Shi Yeh -
Sentul 2016

Chinese opera at Lim Jetty Hungry Ghost Festival  -
the troupe is from Fujian, China

And to keep the ghost happy, entertainment in the form of Chinese opera, stage performances (know and getai/khor tai and can range from just singing to almost lewd performances), Chinese puppet show and various martial arts display are usually put on with rows of seats are that purposely left empty. These (usually front) seats are not 'empty' in the sense they are actually reserved for the ghosts and roaming spirits. And to top it off, a small amount of food and joss-sticks are placed on the chairs, just in case 'they' need a snack to go with the entertainment.

Besides keeping the ghosts fed, it is also a time for people to make merit by donating food that are distributed to the poor or needy, as well as feeding the less ghostly visitors of the event. Hence piles of rice cakes, roasted pig, vegetables and rice are offered and given away during the Phor Thor event which can run for one, three or even up to 15 days!

At the end of the prayers (be it one, three, five or 15 days) the effigies of the King of Hades and his retinue, together with paper money and paper cars, houses, servants etc for the hungry ghost will be dispatched in a huge bonfire that concludes the ceremony. Some even have processions and parades to bring the festivities to an end.

A Monkey God medium in the procession from Brickfields's Seng Hong Temple
Kuala Lumpur 2016

A Thai medium cutting his tongue as
part of the purification ritual -
procession from Brickfields Seng Hong
Temple, Kuala Lumpur.

Sending off the King of Hades and his retinue -
Ampang Mewah 2015

So if you see offerings being placed on the roadside in July-August, or see large makeshift shelters with flags, lots of joss-sticks and loud music going on... beware for the hungry ghost are hungry out roaming at night.

The Hungry Ghost Festival month runs from 

• Aug 3rd to Aug 31st in 2016 
• Aug 22nd to Sept 19th in 2017
• Aug 11th to Sept 9th in 2018

Misty Morning On the Farm... in Nuwara Eliya

Mooo... on a rainy, misty day, in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

An evening at Jugra

Sepetang di Jugra... taken with a Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 11mm, f/10,
1/1250s, ISO 640.

Jugra is a small town on the mouth of the Langat River in Klang Valley, Malaysia. A former royal town for the Sultans of Selangor, it is now just a quaint little fishing village that one goes to for seafood or a popular Chinese dish called Beggar's Chicken. In Jugra, most of the seafood restaurants are by the riverside, so you can watch the sun set over the mangroves on the Straits of Malacca and the fishing boats that go by as you enjoy your meal.

View of one of the many jetties in that area.

Good for:

• Quiet seafood meal by the Straits of Malacca
• Relaxed fishing
• Watching the sunset over Carey Island 
• Landscape photography
• Romantic spot for lovey-dovey couples to hang out

Drawbacks:

• Mosquitoes especially in the evening and at night
• Nothing spectacular about the seafood
• Poor cellphone coverage

Puffing Away

Power vaping???? 35mm, f/9, 1/200s, ISO 800

A Newari man in Khokana village on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal smoking a traditional bong/pipe. The village is a living museum, and despite showing damage from the 2015 quake, the people are still living in those traditional houses in the village.

Reflection of Life on Dal Lake

What is Srinagar in Kashmir without Dal Lake? A forlorn, dusty, and tired town. And what is Dal Lake without its human inhabitants? A ring that has lost its jewels, deplete of its gleam and glitter.

The people and their colourful shikaras, with the trinkets and carpets that they sell... they reflect the life and the vitality of the lake; ever moving and ever changing. Just like the pretty clouds that skip over the mountains frame the lake physically, the people of Dal Lake frame and bring out the endearing spirit of the lake.

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加油。。。加油。。。 (Come on)

加油。。。加油。。。 (Come on, come on - literally meaning add
fuel) 60mm, f/6.3, 1/80s, ISO1000

The photo above was taken at a Datuk Kong temple celebration in Klang, Selangor Malaysia. The bed of charcoal was lit for a fire walking ceremony in conjunction with the deity's birthday celebration that ran for three days.

Smoke... the veil between the realms

Reaching from other side...
(130mm, f/6.3, 1/100s, ISO1250)

Smoke... the veil between the realms' is a black and white essay that revolves around the use of smoke, incense and kemenyan (gum benjamin) during spirit medium consultations and trances. The smoke here appears to the photographer as the thin veil between the realm of the living and the other side, with objects being passed over smoke to bring out the magical, mystical properties of the spirit world. Hence the smoke represents the gateway that the medium breaches through and back, connecting both worlds.

Incense and smoke is a common denominator in many religious practices. Whether it is agarwood, frankincense, gum benjamin or a concoction of psychoactive herbs,  they have been employed as a means of offering, purification or a way to reach the other world

Menurun.... (Going into trance) (35mm, f/6.3, 1/50s, ISO1000)

Memotong... Tongue cutting for blood to write talisman.
(65mm, f/6.3, 1/50s, ISO1250)

Besides smoke, various acts and objects are always associated with trances, especially with local deity trances. Issuance of talismans, whether they are paper talismans written with ink or blood, or objects like limes, consultation on personal matters, 4-digit lottery numbers and even traditional healing remedies, all which requires the use of smoke to sanctify or empower it.

Menanya(kan soalan)... Consultation with the medium.
(18mm, f/5.6, 1/80, ISO640)

Faces - Teochew puppet and puppeteer

Look there... Teochew puppet and puppeteer
100mm, 1/60s,  f/6, ISO1000.

Fire Me Up

Firing up a hot air balloon at Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2016. 27mm, 1/50s,  f/5, ISO800