Taking Down the Lantern Pole Part 1 - The day after The Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2011(九皇大帝) at Ampang (Day 10 - Part 1)

I realised that I would need to split the ceremony of taking down the lantern pole on the tenth day of the lunar 9th month (the day after sending the Nine Emperor Gods off) into at least two parts and even possibly 3 parts to keep each post manageable. A word of caution - since the vegetarian part of the celebration is over, this post and the next one contains pictures of animal offerings including pigs that may be disturbing to some. So here goes Part 1 (Prayers before Taking the Lantern Pole Down):

Dawn over the Ampang Nan Tian Gong Temple on the 6th of October 2011.

The ceremony was originally scheduled for 9am on the 6th of October 2011, but just like the sending off ceremony, it was brought forward to a later time. About half past ten, a crane backed into the temple's compound. Taking on that cue that it was about time, I headed towards the temple. Along the road leading to the temple, gone were the stalls that used to line the front of the Ampang Old Folks Home. What is left are only the zinc roofing sheds that used to house them.

All quiet again - the Ampang Old Folks Home.

At the temple, the crane was parked just by the side of the charcoal pit that was still smouldering and had the look of a missile hit zone. Closer to the temple, a large circular mound of joss paper had already been set up for the pole lowering ceremony. Workers were busy clearing away the baskets full of trash by loading them onto a small lorry to be carted off presumably to their 'dump' site for open burning. Female workers were also carting the fencing that was used yesterday for the fire crossing.

The pole, the lantern and the crane.

Basketful of refuse waiting to be carted off to the dump site. A pile of joss paper has been set up for the lowering of the lantern pole ceremony.

Female workers clearing the fencing that was used for the fire crossing ceremony last night.

Whilst standing about and waiting for the action to start, I noticed two ladies armed with a small plastic bag and an empty paper box of prayer candles arriving and inspecting the charcoal pit. Ah yes, they were there to collect some charcoal to take back, as some believe that the charcoal used for the fire crossing brings good luck. In fact I did see someone taking away some still glowing charcoal back last night, wrapped in thick wads of joss paper that were smoldering away! Moments later, another two ladies appeared. They were armed with a large milk tin and another with a Milo tin...Hmm, containers are getting bigger, perhaps they are collecting for their family too. Maybe those are not just pieces of charcoal that they were collecting, for the Nine Emperor Gods might have turned them into diamonds for those who are in his favour, and I am not blessed enough to see it (yeah right!).

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...Picking up 'lucky' charcoal.

Everyone needs...some charcoal to rely on.

Thinking that this 'lucky charcoal' collection cannot go any 'worst' than that, I was immediately proven wrong when a man and a lady appeared with this large soup stock pot! This pot is big enough to hold stock for at least 30-40 bowls of soup. He wasted no time in using the rake left there to rake some of the hotter charcoals in the middle of the pit to the side and then scooped those charcoal into his pot. My mind immediately reflected on the nature of human greed, but I quickly brush that thought aside and convinced myself that perhaps he was collecting the charcoal on behalf of his entire neighbourhood. My heart skipped a beat when the thought of what might come next - a large truck backing into the temple (with the reverse sensor bleeping away) and then workers popping out and proceeded to shovel all of the charcoal off the ground!

She got 'diamond' on the soles of her shoes - Hmm, waiting for a truck to appear and scoop all of the charcoal off.

Luckily that did not happen but instead, the head priest arrived with his bag of 'tools' (and he came in a nice shiny ride too). This signaled that it was time for the action to start so I quickly headed towards the temple.

The priest who had just arrived...the wait is over!

There was a table set in the outer chamber of the temple, directly facing the altar of Dou Mu, the Mother of the Dipper Stars. Outside, two rows of food placed in buckets were set on wooden benches. The priest was decked in a bright red robe with a picture of a Manchurian crane on the back. The offerings on the table included pork, roasted duck, chicken and fish if I am not mistaken. There was also the customary Chinese rice wine paired to go with the greasy food offered, besides the usual smoky aroma from incense and candles.

Getting ready for prayers.

Today's menu...all meat and heart stopping. Notice the different robe that the priest is wearing as compared to the previous days.

When the prayer was over, I spied something on the offering table that was not cleared off. It can't be...but then a closer look confirmed what I saw. Aww, there was a roasted pig's head, placed on a wicker pan. I guess if you can't offer an entire animal, you prepare the meat and put the head on the table and pretend that it is whole, lol. Looks like one little piggy didn't make it home from the market or the temple. Perhaps this little piggy found a place to call home in Dou Mu's paradise.

Oh dear, this little piggy didn't come home from the market.

And it didn't make it home from the temple either.

There was a short break, before the priest came back, dressed in black for the next part of the ceremony [Part 2 - Taking the Lantern Pole Down].

[Previous - Sending off] [Back to first post] [Part 2]

Sending off the Nine Emperor Gods - The finale to the Nine Emperor Gods Festival (morning of Day 10)

Unlike in Penang, where the Nine Emperor Gods are sent off in a grand procession that usually involves mediums and a certain amount of body piercing plus the use of boats, the Nine Emperor Gods in Ampang go off with less grandeur and sans the boat. After all, Ampang is miles away from the sea. This year, the sending off of the Nine Emperor Gods was supposedly scheduled at 3am on the 6th of October 2011. However, at the end of the fire crossing and the passing round the offering ceremony, an announcement was made that the sending off will commence at 3.30am! Had it not been for Andrea, whom I've just met and chatted earlier, I would probably had slept off and not make any effort to take photos of this procession. Tired and literally 'burnt up' by the heat from the fire crossing pit, I fell asleep in front of my computer until the din of cymbals clanging and the announcements from the temple got me up. I could see from my window that the devotees in white were just about to leave the temple. It was a record for me, for I had never ran so fast as if my dear life depended on it. I managed to catch the procession as they passed by the junction of Jalan Merdeka and Jalan Wawasan Ampang 4/2.

The sending off procession heading down Jalan Besar Pekan Ampang. This was around 4am in the morning! The yellow arrow indicates the yellow parasol in which the urn of the Nine Emperor Gods is being carried by the Urn Master.

The medium, the Or Leng Ki and the urn hidden from view under the yellow parasol.

For the sending off procession, it was a simple and short one. No dragon dances, no lion dances. Just a small lighted sign, one lorry, some temple musicians, the urn being carried underneath the yellow parasol, the mediums in trance and a large number of white clothed devotees. No wonder they can move at such a fast pace. Also, the route is very short. They start off at the temple, go down Jalan Merdeka pass the junction of Jalan Wawasan Ampang 4/2, and continue onto Jalan Besar Pekan Ampang (Ampang Village Centre main road) then turn around back onto Jalan Ampang (heading towards Jalan Bukit Belacan) at the Y-intersection where the police station is located.

Just around the vicinity of Dewan Dato' Ahmad Razali, the medium suddenly instructs everyone to kneel down in the middle of the road. Then the reason for the presence of the lorry became apparent. When everyone has knelt down, the urn was loaded onto the lorry. With a few shakes of the joss sticks that the devotees were carrying and cries of cheers and well wishes, the lorry took off, headed to some 'secret' location where they can send the Nine Emperor Gods off.

Devotees kneeling down in the middle of the road. You can see the living quarters of the police station at the background. The bulk of the devotees at the back had just emerged from the Y-junction.

The urn beneath the parasol is brought right up to the front of the procession, where the lorry had stopped and was waiting for its cargo, the urn.

At this point, all that is left of the procession are the devotees in white, who then rapidly crossed the road (Jalan Ampang) to the other side and proceeded to walk towards Jalan Wawasan Ampang 4/2, past Spectrum Shopping Mall and turn back to Jalan Merdeka to head back to the temple. I was torn on whether to follow them past the Spectrum Shopping Mall and back to the temple or head back to my bed. Curiosity got the better of me and I trudged on, despite blisters on my feet and soggy slushy shoes from stepping on puddles whilst chasing the procession down Jalan Besar Pekan Ampang.

I'm coming home, I'm coming home...Devotees headed back for the temple.

At the temple, the devotees cast the joss sticks and joss paper that they had been carrying into the joss paper burner. A quick look around and I saw that the stalls within the temple compound had cleared off, and the place looked like a huge bomb had gone off in its midst.

We didn't start the fire, it was always... Burning away the joss sticks and joss paper carried through the sending off ceremony.

Fire fire burning bright.

Reflection of the pagoda on the joss paper burner.

After taking some shots of the joss paper burner (and bearing with the intense heat emanating from it), I walked towards the temple. It suddenly hit me that the atmosphere had changed. And I finally got the answer to the nagging question on why some of the devotees were carrying a rather large plastic bag. Gone were the devotees in white. In place of that, they have taken a change of clothes with them and put on the brightest red or floral patterned dress/shirt. Hell, it even looked like Chinese New Year celebration. The white/pale yellow candles are also missing, and the temple reverted back to the use of red candles. This aspect of changing from white coloured clothes (mourning colour) to red (a colour of celebration and joy) is reminiscent of a Chinese funeral; when an old patriarch or matriarch had passed away, the grandchildren and great grandchildren will change to red coloured clothing upon returning from sending the coffin off for burial. I felt a little out of place and stuck out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, I took some photos before heading for a stall selling non-vegetarian stuff (ahem..real food).

Looks like a bomb went off in here!

A bit like Chinese New Year, don't you think so?

Out with the ghastly whites...Chili red is the colour for the day!

Red, red ...Red candles..checked! Red joss sticks..checked! Red shirt on middle aged men..checked! Red underwear...Huh???

The stalls outside the temple were also in the process of packing up, though one of the feng shui 'auction' stall was still at it, perhaps trying to clear his stock up as much as possible.

A monk deep in contemplation on the mess that the stalls had created. Yes, all things are empty and tomorrow, it will be clean once more.

Buy buy buy....Trying to sell off all the items on display.

Usually at the end of the celebration, devotees will break the vegetarian fast with the consumption of non-vegetarian food, so I decided that I will give it a try just to say that I've done it all. There were a few stalls set up and they were selling stuff like Yong Tau Foo to dim sums and glutinous chicken rice. I went for a rice dumpling that had pork, yolk of a salted duck egg, some shiitake mushrooms and black eyed peas. This cost RM5, which is rather expensive. Also, the dumpling did not have Chinese chestnut, which made me feel that it wasn't the perfect dumpling. However, the dumpling had the right amount of flavour and fat from the meat and it wasn't too smothered in soy sauce.

Rice dumpling tied with reed string (very traditional, unlike the usual raffia string tied ones).

Here's how it looked like unwrapped. I can smell meat...yummy!

Deliciously heart stopping (literally - I wouldn't even want to know how much cholesterol is in this dumpling).

Finally a shot of the temple from my balcony as I slowly sink my teeth on the rice dumpling at around 5.30am in the morning.

View of the temple from my balcony after the sending off ceremony. The temple is still smoky, but it also has a strange, an almost sad stillness to the scene.

As I didn't expect this post to be that long (and it wouldn't have had I have gone back home after the urn was sent off on the lorry), the post for the lantern pole lowering ceremony is placed in a subsequent post here [Taking Down the Lantern Pole - Part 1].
 
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Ninth Day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2011(九皇大帝) at Ampang (Day 9)

The last day of the celebration has finally arrived. Around 2am in the morning, the parking lots are still full of vehicles. However, by 3am, most of the cars have cleared. Am ambulance from Ampang Hospital, with sirens wailing sped down the road pass the temple, then suddenly it turned back and stopped in front of the temple at around 3.43am. After a few minutes and some activity around the ambulance, it left in the direction of Ampang Hospital. Hopefully it isn't something serious. It was a beautify dawn breaking over the temple. I didn't get much sleep as I was busy sorting out and editing the photos.

6.55am  - the smoke from the joss burner gives it a misty, blurry look. I wonder how much carbon has been spewed out during the entire duration of the festival.

The parking lot at 2.11am on the ninth day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Ampang. Wah, you guys don't need to work tomorrow ah??

Just like clockwork, it began to pour around midday. And after about an hours worth of heavy rain, the sky miraculously clears up again. The feeding of the heavenly soldiers began at around 2pm. After this has been carried out, it rained intermittently through the afternoon.

I am posting my photos as I go through them. Tonight's event has been very good for me, despite feeling like a chicken in an oven being roasted. Plus, I've made a new friend as well, so let me get the photos out and then I will put in the write-ups later.

The base of the fire pit (a layer of sand) has already been set up.

The priest checking the pit and was busily 'writing' on the sand with a piece of wood. I can it being divided into several sections..

I then went off for an early dinner. When I came back, the first layer of charcoal had been laid and they were in the process of compacting it down with a long wooden plank.

The next layer was added by systematically laying the sacks of charcoal on top of the existing layer.

Sacks of charcoal being laid down for the next layer. This is how they ensure a somewhat even distribution of the charcoal on the pit.

The coarse charcoal is pounded with a heavy block at the end of a pole, and then flatten out with a long wooden plank. This is done until all the charcoal set for this ceremony is used up.

Somewhere over the rainbow...It was drizzling when the fire pit was being prepared, and with the setting sun, out comes a rainbow. Not only that, it became a double rainbow a little later as the light falls lower.

Below are the pics from the lighting of the fire at 7.15pm and followed by the crossing of the fire at 8pm. Slowly adding the captions and pictures due to time constraints.

Huat ah!!! Fire leaping from the charcoal pit. I felt a bit like a chicken roasting in a wood oven whenever kerosene was added to fuel the fire. This photos is 'as it is', no touch ups but just resizing.

This gave me an idea for a Science project kit: Make your own Pacific Ring of Fire Science Kit. Guaranteed to blow away your Science teacher and burn off your competitors (earthquakes and tsunamis not included, fuel sold separately).

A few rounds of inspection by the Taoist priest.

Whoosh...Beep! Beep! No, that ain't the Road Runner, but rather it was the Nine Emperor Gods that just whizzed pass in his chariot. This is also another photo that I did not touch up. Eat my dust you DSLR wielding, tripod lugging photographers.

It's a bird! No, it's a plane...No, can this be Kow Ong Yah?!!! The fire pit almost ready for the crossing. We're waiting for the auspicious time to start.

This is the only place where a tortoise's pace would be very inappropriate.

The rear end of the procession - the Or Leng Ki carried through the fire pit.

After the fire crossing ceremony, they immediately progressed into a prayer and offering ceremony, in which they will pass all the offerings on the various altars around the temple through to the main altar and then back to their respective altars. At this point, visitors cannot put any offering or joss sticks to the various urns in the temple. Some had to hold on to their bunch of joss sticks until it has finished burning (Ouch!). Hence, don't come offering joss sticks at the end of the fire crossing ceremony. Do it very much later (in this year's case, the next prayer started at around 10pm). Members of the opera troupe did a short prayer during this ceremony.

The rows of devotees ready to pass the offerings to the inside of the temple and back. The lady photographer in a gray shirt was the one that was standing beside me during the fire crossing ceremony.

Hmmm, a variant of musical chairs perhaps? The person with an offering in his hands when the music stops is out of the game.

Give that chic a limbo whirl... She was so engrossed into taking photos of the passing round the offering ceremony that she was bending over like she was doing the limbo dance under the lantern pole! I half expected her to topple backwards at one point. Later, we did chat and I enjoyed taking photos around the temple with Andrea.

During the 10pm prayer ceremony, the opera troupe did a 15min prayer/performance in front of the altar. It was an interesting show, with a lot of strutting and twirling.

Hai yah! Kung fu punch.... Oops, I think I KOed the priest.

The opera troupe members. Andrea asked which deity does the 'doll' (in the arms of the devotee) represent and we were told that he is the patron deity of the opera performers.

There are more pictures of the prayers after the fire crossing and the closing of the festival, which I will put in later. Also, check back later for the post on the 10th day of the festival - sending the Nine Emperor Gods off at 3.30am and then there is the lowering of the lantern pole the next day that ended up with a scene that I find pretty hilarious.

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