Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival - What We Love About The Festival No. 3

Q: What do we love about Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival?
A: Friendly faces everywhere! 

Everywhere you turn, there is a friendly,
familiar face that greets you

Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival - What We Love About The Festival No. 2

Q: What do we love about Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival?

A: The lions! Who doesn't love to touch, feel, errr molest the lions during a lion dance performance. And at the festival, no one, young or old, can resist the cute, playful lions prancing through the temple during one of the procession days.

A 'Michelangelo Creation of Adam' moment by the kid and the lady as the lions passes by.

Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival - The 'What' Series: What Do We Love About The Festival No. 1

So the Nine Emperor Gods Festival had begun, and to kick it off, I will start a 'What Series' with What We Love About the Festival Q & A. So here is the first installation of the series:

Q: What do we love about Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival?

A: Yellow strips of cloth and talismans!!! Who doesn't notice the bright (and rather gaudy) yellow strips that goes with the talismans that is given out when you give a donation that is almost synonymous with the festival. You tie them around your wrist, or on your bag and even in your car. Plus you get a bunch of talismans that looks almost like calligraphic art pieces.

Stacks of yellow cloth strips and talismans waiting to be given away to devotees - for a
token sum, of course!

The Royal Invitation - Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2016

Off in a hurry to fetch the Emperor!

The eve of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival sees devotees from Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple off to invite the Nine Emperor Gods from their 'secret' location. This age old tradition sees devotees in white, priests, mediums in trance, lion and dragon dance troupes, palanquins carried by men and decorated motorised floats go down the old Ampang town on the way out to the invitation site.

Dragons whizzing through the temple.

Off we go to fetch the Nine Emperor Gods

The Nine Emperor Lamps were consecrated with fire before being raised up to indicate the Nine
Emperor Gods Festival is ongoing here.

Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2016 begins...

The power of talisman... Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple lantern pole.

The pole is up, and the festivities begins at Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple.

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.

3 MORE DAYS

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.

4 MORE DAYS

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.

5 MORE DAYS

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).

6 MORE DAYS

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

7 MORE DAYS
 

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.

8 MORE DAYS

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.

9 MORE DAYS

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.

10 MORE DAYS

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.