Friday, September 23, 2022

Yellow Lanterns and Yellow Curtains... 3 More Days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022

As the festival draws near (just 3 more days), one cannot help but noticing that there are two main colours that dominates the temple grounds and the vicinity of Nine Emperor Gods temples - yellow and red.
 
Yellow being the colour of the Emperor takes centre stage for now, whilst red being an auspicious colour is still present, but becomes secondary during this festival.

Yellow Lanterns at Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods temple
Yellow lanterns for Nine Emperor Gods Festival, as yellow is a royal colour befitting an Emperor.

Yellow lanterns, yellow curtains, yellow flags and yellow talismans... all that signify the coming of the Nine Emperor Gods. Here we take a peek at Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods temple and one can feel the power of yellow and how it signifies the Emperor Gods are coming...

Yellow curtain covering inner chamber of Nine Emperor Gods temple Jinjang
Yellow curtains drawn over the inner chamber of the Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods temple for the
festival. The curtains keeps the Nine Emperor Gods from being sighted by all and sundry.

Altar plaque at Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods temple
Red altar plaque against the yellow curtains of the inner chamber.

Yellow Nine Emperor Gods Festival flag Jinjang
Yellow Nine Emperor Gods Festival flag at Jinjang.


Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 Countdown - 5 More Days

red door at Amapng Nine Emperor Gods temple
5 more days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022...
 

In Ampang, the anticipation for the festival is building up, as many are looking forward to the festival after a two-year hiatus.

Friday, September 16, 2022

Countdown to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 - 10 More Days

dragons on ampang nine emperor gods temple
It's just 10 more days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022...
 
This year the festivals starts on the 26th of September and ends on the 4th of October. Of course the invitation ceremony would happen on the eve of the festival. At Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple, the 3rd, 6th and 9th day are also Feeding the Heavenly Army days (犒军).
 
Important dates:
Eve of Festival - 25th Sept 2022
Day 1 - 26th Sept 2022
Day 3 - 28th Sept 2022
Day 6 - 1st Oct 2022
Day 9 - 4th Oct 2022

Monday, September 12, 2022

Countdown to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 - 14 more days

nine emperor gods festival lantern
Yes! It is that time of the year... as the Nine Emperor Gods Festival approaches, the countdown to the festival begins!

This year will see most places having the festival back to usual as in the pre-COVID days. For Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple, this year we will see the return of the stalls, the invitation procession, the fire walking etc. just like in pre-COVID times, with the exception that the dormitories are not open to devotees.

For the countdown series, I will mostly post photos of the Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple in the pre-festival and preparatory stages as they prepare for the festival this year. The images will be in a myriad of colours, tonality, with some dark and some bright, some dull and some vividly coloured; so as to depict the broad range of visual stimuli that hits you when you participate in the festival.

So let the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 countdown begin... 14 more days to the 2022 Nine Emperor Gods Festival!

Friday, September 09, 2022

Happy Mooncake Festival 2022

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming (this year it falls on 10th Sept 2022) and hence it is time to wish Happy Mooncake Festival to all my readers and friends. I must admit I have been a little lazy to update post in here, preferring to post more in the Facebook page of this blog or in Instagram lately. 

Happy Mooncake Festival - shanghai style mooncake
 
Still, to keep the posting tradition going for Mid-Autumn Festival (for the past two years, I have been highlighting a different style of mooncake for each year), this year I am sharing Shanghai style mooncakes.
 
The distinctive style of Shanghai mooncakes lies in the skin, which is made of shortcrust pastry (the crumbly rich type very similar to pineapple tart pastry) and brushed with egg glaze and baked. The mooncakes can be shaped like small circular balls, or comes in a longer sausage-roll like shape.
 
So wishing all a great Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoy your mooncakes and lanterns.

Monday, May 02, 2022

Selamat Hari Raya Aidifitri 2022

Wishing all those who celebrate Eid a Blessed and Happy Eid-ul-Fitri!
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, maaf zahir dan batin.


Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Bringing Iron Rod Puppets to Life - Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Opera

In Penang, the Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Troupe (金玉楼春潮州木偶剧团) needs no introduction here in their hometown as they are one of the groups that are actively promoting and keeping the tradition of Teochew iron-rod puppet opera alive. Whilst they have performed in numerous shows organised by various government agencies and NGOs in the promotion of local intangible cultural heritage, I still enjoy their performances more when it is performed in a more traditional setting viz. in temple celebrations.

Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew puppet opera performance

Various Teochew puppet opera characters in action

Amazing miniature costume and headgear on teochew puppet opera


Such shows that usually performed in conjunction with a deity's birthday are called 酬神戏 (chóu shén xì) in Chinese and literally means Rewarding the Gods performance. There is this feel of the 'realness' in the show when they perform on the temple opera stage, with all the temple stuff around and not in a 'sanitised' set up. Plus if you block the intended audience of the show (the gods or spirits) when watching or shooting them, they would not be asking you to move aside, right?

Mdm. Toh Ai Hwa overseeing the preparation before the Teochew puppet opera show begins

Various characters comes to life during the teochew puppet opera show.

Two iron-rod puppet characters, one with a basket and the other carrying a baby.

Elvis Goh on the yangqin


I managed to catch Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Troupe recently in such a setting during the Goddess of Mercy birthday celebration at Yuan Ying Gong (Hor Kai Kong) temple in Pulau Tikus, Penang. As always, their performances is joy to watch and shoot. The lack of audience during the performance there also meant that it was easy to maneuver around the front of the stage to capture the puppets and puppeteers in action.

The iron-rod puppets are capable of really graceful moves under the control of an expert puppeteer.

Iron-rod puppet with a baby.

Thursday, February 17, 2022

Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha 2022 @ Penang

The Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha celebrated by the Sri Singamuga Kaliamman Temple in Teluk Bahang, Penang is one of the lesser known but truly unique festival celebrated here. This festival, which usually occurs at the end of February or early March every year, has been celebrated by this temple annually since the early 1900s.

Loading the deity onto the float for the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha Festival 2022 in Penang

So what is Masi Magam?

Masi Magam is a Hindu festivals popular with Tamils and is celebrated when the Moon is in the Magha/Magam nakshatra (star/asterism) during the Tamil month of Masi (Feb - March), hence the name Masi Magam. The Magha star is α-Leonis (Regulus) in the Western constellation of Leo and in Hindu astrology this star is associated with power and royalty.

On this auspicious day, it is said that prayers done is very efficacious in removing afflictions in life, particularly those associated with ancestors (pitru dhosa) as the Magha star is controlled by Ketu (lunar descending node) which governs past actions and ancestors.

Temples in Southern India (as well as Southern Indian temples of the Tamil diaspora like in Malaysia) will usually hold temple festivals i.e. Thiruvizha on this day where the temple idols will be paraded out on temple chariots and taken for a ceremonial bath in a body of water (Theerthavari). Devotees will then take a dip in this body of water as it is believed to be blessed thus capable of relieving past afflictions and wash away bad karma.

So now we come to Theppa Thiruvizha... instead of parading the idols in chariots, the Sri Singamuga Kaliamman Temple in Penang does it by boat, hence it is called a Theppa (i.e. a float or decorated boat) Thiruvizha! This unique way of celebrating the festival here calls for a specially built, beautifully decorated and brightly lit boat that will carry the deity out to sea in the evening as the sun sets, with fireworks going off before she is given the ceremonial bath out at sea.

The boat being prepared the day before the masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha festival

The Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha float coming ashore

The deity being carried and loaded onto the boat

Prayers before setting off to sea for the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha

It is, I believe one of the only temple in Malaysia to carry out a Theppa Thiruvizha for Masi Magam. And to add to the stunningly lit float that stands out against the darkening evening sky, devotees also release floating lamps onto the water, and the sea in that area magically transforms into this mesmerizing sparkling sea of lights.

Floating off lamps at sea during the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha

Devotees throng to the water edge to release their lamps onto the sea after the float has left the beach

In the past, this festival at Teluk Bahang Penang usually attracts up to 40k devotees and tonnes of photographers all wanting to participate and catch a glimpse of this amazing event. However, the number of participants are very much less this year, and there wasn't much of a crowd at all since we are still in the pandemic. In fact you could even count the number of photographers present with both hands!

2022 actually marks the 115th year that the temple has carried out the celebration in this unique fashion, and despite the various restrictions presented by the Covid-19 SOPs and the current Omicron wave, I must say they have managed to pull it off very well to keep this tradition alive.

A devotee catching glimpse of the Theppa Thiruvizha float at sea before the festival

Saying a prayer after letting off a lamp at sea during the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha Festival

Devotee taking a photo of the float heading out to sea during the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha

So next time you are in Penang around February - March, do check out the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha here.

Friday, February 04, 2022

Li Chun 2022 - The Start of the Water Tiger Year

Li Chun (立春), which is one of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese calendar, is the day when the Sun enters 315o longitude and marks the Beginning of Spring in the traditional Chinese calendar.

Furthermore it is also the beginning of the new Chinese horoscope year (which is the 壬寅 - Water Tiger this year) and not on the date of the Lunar New Year as many people think it is.

Li Chun 2022 red lanterns

Li Chun usually falls on the 3rd or 4th of February in the Gregorian calendar, and whilst it can occur, it is a rare occurrence for the Lunar New Year date to coincide on the same day with Li Chun (e.g. in 2038, and 2087 the Lunar New Year date coincides with Li Chun for that year). So the Ren Yin (壬寅) Water Tiger year of 2022 actually starts today at 4.50am.

Egg Balancing on Li Chun: There is a myth that eggs can be easily balanced on the broad end on this day due to electromagnetic forces etc. coming together on this particular day. In reality it is just a myth and it has been studied that eggs can be balanced on the broader end on any day of the year. All you need to do is to make the shell have at least three contact points with a flat surface (due to the imperfections present on the shell) whilst keeping the centre of mass of the egg within the area that is defined by those three points.
 
Wishing all a Happy Water Tiger Year 2022!



Monday, January 31, 2022

Happy Lunar New Year 2022 - Wishing All A Roaring Tiger Year

Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year (Feb 1st) and whilst it may be Chinese New Year to some and Tet Nguyen Dan to others, the coming lunar year is the Year of the Tiger.

Technically for the Chinese calendar, it isn't the Year of the Water Tiger (壬寅) as yet as the year actually changes on the solar calendar term Li Chun (立春 - Beginning of Spring) which falls on February 4th. However most people are unaware of it and would consider the lunar new year date as the start of the Tiger year.

Chinese New Year greeting with lanterns and KLCC twin towers

So here's to the tail end of the Cow year and wishing all a good head start for the Tiger Year...

新年快乐, 瑞虎丰年!

Monday, January 17, 2022

Thaipusam 2022 - Another year of the festival under the pandemic and the pandemonium of SOPs

Amidst the last minute announcement of new SOPs by the government for the festival, which threw confusion and chaos amongst devotees as to what is allowed for the festival, Thaipusam 2022 kick-started in Kuala Lumpur last night with the silver chariot carrying the image of Lord Murugan and his consorts leaving the Sri Maha Mariammam temple in town for Batu Caves at around 10pm.

Silver chariot leaving KL for Batu Caves for Thaipusam 2022

Whilst the crowd was less at the temple compared to pre-Covid times, it was still a sizeable crowd as many thronged to witness the event personally after being unable to do so last year. With restricted stoppages and less devotees offering archanais along the way, the chariot reached its destination in the wee hours of the morning today on 17 January.

Thaipusam falls on the 18th of January, and due to the last minute announcement of the rules by the government, there will be no kavadi carrying allowed at temples in Malaysia this year. However milk pots are allowed and hence it is expected the festival will be a little toned-down as compared to before the pandemic.

Happy Thaipusam 2022 to all!

Friday, January 14, 2022

Happy Thai Pongal 2022

Pongal or Thai Pongal, is a Tamil festival that is celebrated in the month of Thai and usually falls on January 14 (January 15 on leap years). Despite being lesser known and is often overshadowed by Thaipusam that occurs several days later, nevertheless it is an important festival to the Tamils as it celebrates Uttarayan, or the movement of the sun shifting back north after the end of its southward journey into the Tropic of Capricorn, thus marking the end of winter. Now you will say, hey this sounds like the Winter Solstice in December that is celebrated in many cultures, but why is it in January and not in December?
 
Overflowing pongal pot
The pot of milk, rice and jaggery that is being boiled overflowing and accompanied by shouts
of Pongalo Pongal during Thai Pongal festival.

Well you are right, it is the Tamil/Hindu equivalent of the Northern hemisphere Winter Solstice but the reason for the date discrepancy is because Tamil/Hindu calendar and astrology are based on sidereal precession instead of tropical precession like the Western and Chinese calendar/astrology. Due to the precession of the Earth on its axis, the date when the Sun enters Tropic of Capricorn is seen by us today to be happening in Dec (usually Dec 21) instead of January. In 26000 years time from the start of the Tamil/Hindu sidereal calendar, then Winter Solstice will coincide with Thai Pongal again in January as the Earth makes a complete cycle wobbling on its axis.

This festival is also celebrated in the northern parts of India as Makar Sankrati, in West Bengal as Poush Sankrati or Maghe Sankrati in Nepal; and as well as wherever the Indian diaspora can be found. In Malaysia, where the local Indian communities whom are mostly Tamils, celebrate Thai Pongal with great fervour despite it being not a public holiday.

The day before Pongal is called Bhogi Pandigal (Bhogi or Pogi in short), and it is a day to get rid of old stuff and set it on fire, symbolically getting rid of the old and starting anew. On the day of Pongal, Tamil families would first set up a tripod of three sugarcane sticks, and beneath it a new, colourful earthenware pot (pongapani) wrapped with a stalk of turmeric plant (leaves, stem and a bit of the root; some people wrap it when the cooking is almost done as to prevent it from being completely burnt), is used to boil rice with jaggery and milk, then topped with spices, nuts and dried fruits (eg. cardamom, cinnamon, cashews and raisins) and are allowed to boil over and the liquid bubble out of the pot.

Setting up the pot for making sakkarai pongal
Setting up the pot for cooking.

Adding rice etc into the pot for making sakkarai pongal
Adding rice to the mixture.

The pot boils over with shouts of Pongalo pongal!
Pongalo pongal!

When that happens it is customary to shout Pongalo Pongal to usher in auspiciousness for the new year. Once the cooking is done, the resulting sweet rice dish (called sakkarai pongal - literally sweet pongal) is then offered as prasadam to the Sun God (Surya) and other deities first and later consumed by family members.

Saturday, January 01, 2022

Happy New Year 2022

LED lamps with Happy New Year greeting
So here's a toast to 2022 and hoping for the best, despite the fact that the new year didn't quite come with a bang, but more like a slow glow of an LED lamp.

I guess we just have got to keep looking on the bright side...

To my friends and readers, the next major festival update would be Thaipusam, which falls on January 18 this year. So stay tuned!

Friday, December 24, 2021

Wishing all a Merry Christmas!

Wishing all a Merry Christmas from Kuala Lumpur and looking forward to a better 2022!

KLCC 100ft tall Christmas tree
The tallest Christmas tree in Malaysia at KLCC Suria (100ft tall) and is covered with over
7000 colourful baubles).

Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Happy Winter Solstice 2021

Today is the Winter Solstice and for Chinese people it is celebrated as as Dong Zhi (冬至), which when translated literally means Winter's Extreme as it marks the longest night of the year.

On this day, Southern Chinese families and their diaspora will usually get together and consume coloured glutinous rice balls which symbolizes reunion and a new beginning. The glutinous rice balls are also offered to ancestors and deities that are worshiped at home. On the other hand, Northern Chinese would typically consume dumplings instead as the festival food on this day.

So have a Happy Winter Solstice Festival!


Sunday, December 19, 2021

Kuda Kepang - The Dance of Two Realms

kuda lumping
Kuda kepang, a traditional Javanese dance, is also commonly performed by the Javanese diaspora in South East Asia. In Malaysia this traditional performance is kept alive in areas of Southern Johor, where a large number of people of Javanese descent resides.

Whilst this dance can be merely a performance, in its original form it often incorporates elements of trance which is said to be caused by invited spirit possession. However with the rise of Islamization in the region, the trance portion is often left out as it is deemed un-Islamic. Hence to witness a kuda kepang performance incorporating the trance element here in Malaysia is very much a novelty and a treat.


We were lucky in KL that last night, Pusaka in collaboration with Seni Lab and 33.3studio brought Kumpulan Kuda Kepang Parit Raja Johor to Black Box, Publika in an exciting and eclectic traditional kuda kepang performance with light show and music called Cahaya 004 - Kitab Basah, and yes it was with trance as well.

The moment the dancers goes into trance, their movements seemed to take on an unearthly vibe and exudes that sublime other realm feel to the performance. It is as if something from the other side touched the entire performance and everyone in it, and for that short time, the two realms, physical and the unseen, were connected through the dancers and their movements.

It was an enthralling and a different experience that cannot be adequately described in words or by photos, and is definitely a performance that everyone should at least experience once in their lifetime for themselves.

Friday, November 19, 2021

Of Lights and Water... the Loy Krathong Festival

The Loy Krathong festival, which falls on Friday this year (19 November 2021) is one of the most picturesque festivals that is celebrated in Thailand and also by the larger Thai communities in other countries including those in certain areas of Malaysia.

This festival has its roots as a Brahminical festival to honour the Goddess Ganga (Phra Mae Khongkha - พระแม่คงคา), and is celebrated on the full moon night of the twelfth month of the Thai calendar, which usually falls within the month of November in the Gregorian calendar.

The festival also coincide with the Lanna (Northern Thailand) festival of Yi Peng, where they release sky lanterns (basically identical to the Chinese Kung Ming lantern), and is now celebrated as one amalgamated festival in Northern Thailand.

Whilst Thailand is celebrating the festival on a big scale as they have started to reopen to tourist post Covid-19 pandemic, the same can't be said for Malaysia; where it would not be publicly celebrated by the Thai communities in Klang Valley and in Penang this year due to concerns of the pandemic.

So in this post are a few pictures from the festival in Penang (at Gurney Drive) taken in 2014, and hoping that the festival will make a comeback here in Malaysia next year. Happy Loy Krathong!

Krathong decorated with banana leaves and flowers
Flower Power... Krathong with lovely flowers

Lighting up the krathong
Lighting up the krathongs...

Making a wish before setting off the krathong
Say a little prayer for you...

Letting off krathong at Gurney Drive
Let it go, let it go...

Monday, October 11, 2021

The North Star Deity (北斗星君) arrives at Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods Temple

As part of the series of ceremonies and divine invitations that occur during the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, the Nan Tian Gong Nine Emperor Gods temple of Sekinchan (适耕庄南天宫九皇大帝) invited the North Star deity (北斗星君) yesterday on the 5th day of the festival.

Whilst the South Star deity (南斗星君) is believed to be in charge of matters regarding your well-being and living quality in this life, the North Star deity is in charge of the death (ie. lifespan) of a person, and therefore prayers are often offered to the North Star deity to prolong one's lifespan.
 
Temple entourage walking to the North Star deity invitation site

The invitation ceremony of the North Star deity carried out by Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods temple yesterday was somewhat similar to the South Star deity invitation ceremony on the 2nd day of the festival (click to read in new tab), with the exception that it was more festive this time around, having a pair of lions performing the lion dance and escorted the entourage for the invite, plus we headed north of the temple this time to a spot located somewhere in the agricultural fields for the invitation. Also, as the site was quite close by, the temple entourage walked to the site which took us about 10 mins to get there.

Lions and sedan chair arrive at the invitation site

Setting up the invitation altar for the North Star

Going for a spin - sedan chair with deity being spun over firecrackers

Offering joss paper at the lantern pole


The schedule of invitation ceremonies at Sekinchan are as follows:
  • 5th Oct 2021 (eve of festival) 10.15pm - Invitation of the Nine Emperor Gods
  • 7th Oct 2021 (2nd day) 10.15pm - Invitation of the South Star Deity
  • 10th Oct 2021 (5th day) 10.15pm - Invitation of the North Star Deity
  • 12th Oct 2021 (7th day) 8.45pm - Invitation of Jade Emperor
  • 13th Oct 2021 (8th day) 10.15pm - Invitation of Dou Mu
 

Thursday, October 07, 2021

Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods Festival - Invitation Ceremony for the South Star Deity on Day 2

On the night of the 2nd day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, the Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods temple (适耕庄南天宫九皇大帝) invited the South Star deity (南斗星君) back to their temple. Even though it was a simple ceremony without any elaborate procession or fanfare, one can sense the intense religious fervor that pervaded the ceremony emanating from the temple members and mediums in trance who were tasked with carrying it out.

Coming back from the inviting the South Star Deity on 2ns Day of Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2021

The ceremony starts (as usual) with the mediums going into trance to the beat of the gongs and hand drums. This is then followed by the royal parasol, the sedan chairs and the temple entourage leaving for a selected location to do the invitation.

Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2021 Day 2 South Star invitation

Coming back from the invitation ceremony

medium in trance

Upon return back to the temple, the entourage were greeted with lit firecrackers and the sedan chairs were then paraded around the temple altar table whilst being rocked hard before being placed back to their respective places in the temple after the deities on board have been let in into the temple's inner chamber. After that mediums who are still in trance attended to the various needs of the devotees.

This year, the Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods temple is one of the few Nine Emperor Gods temple in Klang Valley whose prayers and ceremonies are open to the public whom have been fully vaccinated, and I believe it is also the only one in Klang Valley that did raise the lantern flagpole for this year's Nine Emperor Gods Festival which is accessible to the public at large.


Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2021... A Celebration Behind Closed Doors

Today is the second day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, and as expected, it was quiet but still smoky at Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple. Other than the numerous dragon joss-sticks burning away inside the temple grounds, it actually feels more like a non-celebration, being rather calm and without the usual endless stream of devotees coming and going throughout the day.