So Near Yet So Far - A Different Nine Emperor Gods Festival for 2020

Yes, it is only 30 more days before the Nine Emperor Gods Festivals 2020. Yet, this year the Nine Emperor Gods Festival will be different no doubt; as ever since the COVID-19 pandemic raged through the world, everything was different due to social distancing and crowd restrictions rules being imposed by governments.

In Malaysia, some temples have decided to scale down this year's celebration due to concerns of crowd control, whilst some are taking the more drastic decision to cancel the celebrations altogether. For the time being, all we can do is to look back at happier times and hope next year it will be back to normal...

So here's a short clip of scenes from Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019 for us to look back on and to keep us in high spirits as we count down to this year's Nine Emperor Gods celebration... with a difference!

When is this festival happening in 2020:

• 1st day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival - Saturday, 17th of October 2020
  


• 9th day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival - Sunday, 25th October 2020

Invitation ceremonies related to this festival usually happens in the evening or on the night of the eve of the festival, which is Friday, 16th October 2020.

Next post in this countdown to 2020 Nine Emperor Gods Festival series - Let's Start With a Trip Down Memory Lane

Till We Meet Again - The End of the Hungry Ghost Month

As the Hungry Ghost Month for 2020 draws to a close, we bid farewell to the roadside offerings of food and joss paper, and of the taboos of the month... It was indeed a very different celebration this year under the 'New Normal', and I have only managed to see one large Phor Thor at Sunway Mentari (and even that was scaled down) when in previous years, the problem was more of trying to politely decline friends' invitation to see and shoot the Phor Thor in their area.

 

Of course the best part of a Phor Thor or large Hungry Ghost celebration, besides the prayers, food offerings and trances is the burning of the King of Hades (Da Shi Yeh) to send him and his officials off, together with all the joss paper and spirit tablets of the departed at the end of the celebration. Picture below is the Da Shi Yeh from Sunway Mentari Phor Thor catching fire as they set him alight on the last night of their celebration.

 

So hopefully next year thing will be back to normal, and we shall be able to attend more large Hungry Ghost Phor Thor celebrations... 

The Final Prayer - Hungry Ghost Festival 2020

These are the scenes of the final prayer session for the Sunway Mentari Hungry Ghost Festival, before sending the King of Hades (Da Shi Yeh) and his retinue off in a big bonfire. Whenever a large Phor Thor (Hungry Ghost) celebration is conducted ie with the King of Hades, his retinue and the various paper effigies, this prayer is always done at the end of the celebration and depending on the priest and how elaborate the procedure is, can take up to two or three hours before it is completed and the paper effigies and joss paper can then be dispatched in a big bonfire.

It is all about food... and it's finger licking good too...

Money makes the world go round - Joss money and 'daily necessities' for the hungry ghost.

It is in the hands - The priest performing ritual to feed the hungry ghost...

Tossing joss paper money for the spirits ...

Moving the Da Shi Yeh (King of Hades) effigy and his retinue to be burnt at the end of
the ceremony.

The focus of this final prayers before the the send-off is all about feeding the wandering spirits, ensuring they have food, joss money and whatever they need in their realm, and then asking all of them to take leave, including the King of Hades and his retinue, plus all of the ancestor spirits that has benefited from this celebration.

Faces of Hungry Ghost Festival - the Taoist Priest

Featured here is a Taoist priest conducting a prayer at a Hungry Ghost Festival in Malaysia, whereby food and even coins on the altar are distributed and tossed to the devotees after being offered to the spirits. And no, he didn't throw the pineapple, but merely passed it to one of the devotees standing nearby. I was hoping he would...

Taoist priest on the altar performing prayers to feed the hungry ghost during Ghost Month
Celebration at Sunway Mentari.

In some Cantonese speaking areas, Taoist priest are sometimes called Nam Mo Lou (喃嘸佬 - Jyut Ping: Naam4 Mou4 Lou2). This is a colloquial term used for a Taoist priest, especially one who performs prayers for the salvation of the deceased or spirits. The term is in fact incorrect as the origin of the phrase Nam Mo is a term from Buddhist text (Na Mo - meaning homage to}, whereas those priest are Taoist. However in many Asian and South East Asian countries, they are colloquially being referred to as such despite being a misnomer (and also disrespectful) for their profession.

 

Women of Nepal

The streets of Kathmandu and more so in the surrounding suburbs can be very rewarding to the photographer, especially if you love catching street and environmental portraits. As you walk along the area, you will notice quite a few locals work at their doorstep, around the village square or the water source for the town. The women folk featured in this album were weaving carpet or spinning yarn at their doorstep, or in grandma's case, she was taking a break from a hard day's work. Their faces show it all; the hardship, the toil and joys of their life are all etched in their faces...

Click here to see the individual picture within the album (Women of Nepal) in my facebook page...

You Are Looking for Me??? - the King of Hades (大士爷) Effigy

你找我啊？？我来啦。。。 
(You are looking for me??? I am coming....)

This year, it is very hard to find large scale Hungry Ghost celebrations (also known as Phor Thor) in Malaysia due to the Covid-19 pandemic as we are still in the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) imposed by the government.

To be able to find a King of Hades or Da Shi Yeh (大士爷) effigy to photograph is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Luckily a friend informed me that at Sunway Mentari they will be holding their Hungry Ghost Festival as usual albeit in a small scale, complete with the King of Hades paper effigy.

The image is the reflection of the King of Hades effigy on a puddle of water on the road at Sunway Mentari Hungry Ghost Festival which is happening from the 1st to the 5th Sept 2020. Caught his reflection in a puddle of water on the road as if he is coming out from the Underworld...

And this is how the altar setup is like... Everything is there, the King of Hades, Tua Pek and Jee Pek, the Gold and Silver Mountain, ships for the souls to reach salvation (3 small ones)... paper house for the departed etc. although somewhat scaled down in size to fit in the praying location.

This is how the altar setup looks like at Sunway Mentari Phor Thor... all there but
scaled down to fit the location as they cannot hold big outdoor event under
the RMCO (Recovery Movement Control Order.

If you want to know more about the taboos during this festival, see my previous post about "Hungry Ghost Month Taboos..."

Hungry Ghost Month Taboos...

There are many Chinese taboos associated with the Hungry Ghost month. Listed below are 13 of them and the apparent reason(s) for those taboos, as well as a lighthearted take on those reasons...

1. Don't go out at night...

You will bump into the wandering hungry ghost and either piss them off or they are attracted to you. If they are mad at you, then they will play pranks on you or sabotage what you do. If they like you, worst still.... you now have an invisible stalker. Imagine you having to make a police report that a 'hamsap' (perverted) ghost is stalking you... So no late night mamak eating trips or driving around okay...

2. Don't hang your laundry out in the open at night...

Ghost will be attracted to your laundry and stick to it, bringing negative energy to you when you wear your clothes.. Maybe it is the nice smelling laundry detergent you use or the softener?? Or maybe your laundry ain't clean enough and they have a smelly shirt/dress/underwear fetish?? 

3. Don't step or kick the offerings for the hungry ghost on the roadside...

The ghost will get angry if you disturb or kick their offerings... I guess if you go try and step on your family meal before they have eaten, or kick your friends/colleagues/parents/children dinner before they start eating or during their meal.... sure get whacked right??? So don't do it for goodness sake.

4. Do not step on the joss paper money offering on the roadside...

Stepping on their money is a sure way of pissing them off... If I see real money on the road, I will step on it and then bend down and pretend to tie my shoelaces before picking up the money, so I guess maybe the ghost thinks that you are after their moolah when you step on it.... which is bad.

5. Do not get married during the Hungry Ghost month...

They love ceremonies and parties that have candles and joss sticks and food. Also they might prank your wedding ceremony because they cannot be part of it or worst still, during the ceremony take up the same space as your partner... now you wonder which one did you marry huh, the human, the ghost or both???

6. Do not hold your wedding banquet during Hungry Ghost month....

If you had no choice and got married in the Hungry Ghost month, then for goodness sake do not hold your banquet dinner until the month is over... Why??? Food and tables and chairs and stage entertainment.... are you sure your banquet guest are all human or.... ghost???

7. No renovation during the Hungry Ghost month...

One reason is you disturb the peace and tranquility of the area and they don't like it. The other reason is if you had removed doors, windows, walls or roof, the ghosts can go in and hang about., and you are doomed if the job is done before the 7th month is over.... you sure 'sui' liao (badly jinxed) as the ghost might remain inside and you get a free 'maid' for the month.

8. No swimming especially at night during this month...

They are looking for another soul to replace their position and will pull you down to drown you. Now have you wondered if you piss when swimming or swim naked will they be scared off? Skinny dipping anyone?

9. If you are certain that you are walking alone, do not turn around or answer when someone calls your name...

Apparently humans have three 'flames' that protect one from being possessed, one on the forehead and one on each shoulder. So by quickly turning around the flames on the shoulders can be put off... At least I can tell my friends that I am a natural fire juggler.... If you need to turn around, slowly walk in a semi circle to face the other direction instead of swinging your head around. Hmmm, if I carry several fire torches, will that help??

10. Do not open an umbrella inside the house, or carry an open umbrella inside the house... 

It is believed that ghosts can and will hide under an opened umbrella to stay away from the sun (reminds me of someone who goes bleh bleh bleh; or they must be suffering from photosensitivity or are albino) and by bringing an open umbrella in or opening one inside your house, you allow them to go into the house via the umbrella. So is Rihanna referring to ghosts in her song Umbrella??? At least this proves that the umbrella is a versatile transportation device like how Mary Poppins uses it.

11. Do not stick chopsticks or eating utensils upright on rice or food not meant for the dead.... 

That is how food is offered to spirits. Then they will fight with you when you want to eat the food... see who can eat faster. Actually you don't do that all the time, not just during Hungry Ghost month. 

12. When you see seats set out in front of stages during the Hungry Ghost festival, never ever take the front row seats that are left empty for the ghosts...

Remember the Phantom of the Opera and what happened when they didn't leave Box 5 empty for him.... same thing if you try to take the front row seats. I would gladly leave the front row seats for them anyway... too near to the stage and neck pain to look up all the time at stage, plus speakers are too close and damaging to my eardrums... the best seats are somewhat in the middle, like in cinemas.

13. Never ever put a baby on the offering table at Hungry Ghost festival... or anything that you do not wish to offer to the spirits...

The spirits will think the baby is an offering item and proceed to consume it... Now how can anyone or anything eat a cute little baby??? Plus they piss and puke and shit everywhere... I imagine it wouldn't be the nicest piece of food to try and eat. I would rather go for the roast pig and chickens and ducks, won't you??


Click on these links to see my other posts about this festival in:

• 2016 - Are You Hungry Tonight???
• 2019 - Be Spirited Away
• 2020 - Hungry Tonight??? - Hungry Ghost Festival under the New Normal
• 2020 - You Are Looking for Me???

Hungry Tonight??? - Hungry Ghost Festival under the New Normal

Hungry Ghost Festival 2020 is here... albeit more toned down due to COVID-19 pandemic
restrictions.

Hungry Ghost Festival has started on 19th August 2020... but this year you will probably notice that there are less almost no large scale festivities (Phor Thor Celebration) locally due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The so called 'new normal' in which social distancing rules applies and no big gatherings being allowed has affected the traditional Phor Thor celebration... Gone are the stage shows (getai), Chinese opera shows and large tent up areas for this celebration.

 

However, prayers offered by the roadside for wandering hungry ghosts seems to be no less than the previous year. So beware, when you are out at night and walking alone.... you might just not be alone on the streets, something might be out there, watching you go by..... (see this post about the taboos during Hungry Ghost festival)

Talisman - II

Happy Wesak Day 2020

 

Teamwork - Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2020

Inflation of MyDeerling, a special shape balloon during Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2020

Sending the Nine Emperor Gods Home - The End of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival at Ampang

As all good things must come to an end, so after nine frantic and energetic days of  trances, vegetarian meals, rituals and prayers the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019 comes to an end. Here at Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple, the Nine Emperor Gods was sent off at 3.30am in the wee hours of the morning on the tenth day of the festival. Whilst the crowd wasn't as large as the invitation ceremony (probably due to the ungodly hour), the atmosphere was still very much charged with the religious fervour of the festival.

So long, farewell... devotees from Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple sending the Nine
Emperor Gods off at the end of the festival.

Exhausted and drained, it was a rather solemn and quiet affair as devotees escort the Nine Emperor Gods on the journey back to the river, and with hope and certainty that next year we will meet again...

Dates for Nine Emperor Gods Festival in 2020:

• Eve of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival - 16th October 2020
• 1st Day of Nine Emperor Gods Festival - 17th October 2020
• 9th Day of Nine Emperor Gods Festival - 25th October 2020

Click here for the 1st post in the series of 2020 Nine Emperor Gods Festival Countdown post.

Kuala Pilah Nine Emperor Gods Procession 2019 - Walking in the Rain

And we were walking in the rain... but the light drizzle eventually stopped as the procession began. The rain didn't dampen the spirits of the participants and also helped to make the night a cool and pleasant walk for the Nine Emperor Gods procession that meandered through the old parts of Kuala Pilah town.

Walking (or rather waiting...) in the rain... Participants of Kuala Pilah Nine Emperor Gods
Festival waiting for the signal to begin their annual procession.

Crossing the Fire Pit - Kuala Pilah Nine Emperor Gods Temple

Yesterday, on the 6th day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, Cheryl, Kirk and I decided to head down south to Kuala Pilah Nine Emperor Gods Temple (Si Thian Kong -  西天宫) as we found out that the Thai mediums which the temple had invited were going to do their fire crossing that night.

Of course we left for the temple early (3pm) from KL in anticipation that there will be quite some activity late in the evening before the actual fire-crossing ceremony, which usually happens at night.

One for the show...performing for the Nine Emperor Gods.

We managed to catch the opera troupe perform a ritual performance for the Nine Emperor Gods in the evening, before the Thai mediums went into trance and was performing many self-mutilation acts like tongue cutting and hitting their backs or stomach with knives and axes to draw blood to empower talisman for the devotees.

Cutting... Drawing blood for talisman.

I Believe I Can Fly!

Spray... When things get too hot to handle!

Run, run across the fire pit.

I will carry you through...

But the best part was the fire-crossing ceremony, as this type of fire pit made by burning wood into embers that is typical of Thai mediums is usually very much hotter than the ones done with compressed charcoal bed typical of Chinese temples in Malaysia.

Having crossed this type of fire pit before in Jinjang, I know that speed is essential and that mediums and people crossing it will end up running or literally flying through the hot embers.

At the end of the day, the local folks and Sing Sua Sifu kept us company with food and drinks until the wee hours of the next day, and it was truly an exhausting but fun trip.

It is a wrap...

Faces of Nine Emperor Gods Festival Jinjang - the Priest

The Taoist priest is an indispensable person during the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. Like many Taoist and syncretic Chinese religious festivals, the priest is responsible for all the consecration ceremonies of the ritual space and altar, which is done with the help of his assistants and accompanying musicians.

 

Despite his age, Mr Lim's movements are still full of energy and his voice always thundering above the cacophony of the drums, cymbals and bells during prayer sessions. If you visit Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods Festival, do try to catch a glimpse of the prayer ceremonies led by him, you will be amazed at his vitality and vocal power.

 

  

It has begun... the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019

The sudden heavy downpour this evening at Ampang, which threatened to make this year's Nine Emperor Gods invitation ceremony a repeat of last year's rain drenched event, did not deter the participating devotees at all. Furthermore many had learnt a lesson from last year's event and thus came prepared with raincoats, ponchos and umbrellas.

Fortunately for them, the sky quickly cleared and by the time the procession was making its way back to the temple through the main road of Ampang old town, it was a clear and breezy evening. With the start of this festival, the usually quiet Ampang New Village is transformed into a hive of activity as devotees and casual visitors from near and far all pour in to see or participate in this festival.

Same same but Different - the Nine Emperor Gods Festival

If you ask me which temple is better to see or shoot Nine Emperor Gods Festival, my reply would be... they are all 'same same but different'. And if you ask me if what has changed over the years that I have followed this festival, my answer would still be... 'same same but different'.

In my opinion, this popular South-east Asian phrase 'Same same but different' very aptly describes this festival.... and here is why I feel it is so:

• Same same rites and rituals but there are (minor) differences...
• Same same schedule of event every year, with minor tweaks and additions or omissions...
• Same same people participate every year, except they are one year older...
• Same same deity but the invitation timing is different...
• Same same concept of invitation (from a body of water) but locations are different (river, sea, etc)
• Same same God that they pray to but rules of who can participate in the festival and/or fire walking is different from temple to temple
• Same same kind of vegetarian food, but prices are way way different.
• Same same shots taken... but many different stories can be told from the shots of the festival...

So my advice is... go and enjoy this 'Same same but different' festival and don't fret it if you miss something this year... there is always next year... as it will be... 'Same same but different'

So my countdown to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019 posts comes to a close today with this post as tomorrow (28th Sept 2019) will be the eve of this festival... Remember that some temples will carry out the invitation ceremony tomorrow in the evening whilst some do it much closer to midnight... same same but different ya!

Almost time for.... Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019

Just a few more days to the start of Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019. So here is a survival checklist to help you gauge if you are ready for the festival:

1. White clothes, pants and head cover.
2. Vegetarian foodstuff - think of tofu and mock meat, fermented bean paste to seaweed
3. Camera and accessories
4. White candles, red tortoise buns and yellow talismans
5. Stamina
6. and even more stamina to last the nine days

For those who are looking for Ampang Nine Emperor Gods 2019 schedule of events, please visit Cheryl's post for the schedule of events and more info (link below):

• Haze Move Over! Dates for the 2019 Festival (Ampang Style).

Counting down to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019

4 more days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019....well, 3 more days to the eve of the festival. Many who participate in this festival would most likely be starting their bland vegetarian diet today so as to be 'clean' during the invitation on the eve of the festival. Many temples that celebrate this festival would also already be bustling with the preparations for this annual festival.

Let the spirits descend - the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2019

The Nine Emperor Gods festival, which is starting is 5 days time, is associated with spirit mediums and trances of various deities including those of the Nine Emperor Gods. With these trances, acts of self mortification such as blood letting and body piercing are signs that the divine has taken over the body of the medium and that he or she does not feel any pain. Furthermore the blood letting is also both a sacrifice and purification of the space and surroundings, and thus is often carried out with great spiritual fervor. So let the spirits descend....

When (does it start): 29th Sept 2019 to 7th October 2019 (the eve falls on 28th Sept)

Where (can I see this festival): Nine Emperor Gods temples in South East Asia

What (to do): Eat vegetarian, see mediums perform rituals, watch parades, fire walking etc.

For those who are looking for the schedule of events at Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival, surf over to Cheryl's post in her site - Haze Move over! Dates for the 2019 Festival (Ampang Style) for the schedule and lots more info regarding the festival.