Half a pound of treacle

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Seventh Day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012 @ Ampang

It is a Sunday (21^st October) and many have taken the opportunity to come visit Ampang Nan Tian Gong Temple to witness and experience for themselves the Nine Emperor Gods Festival here. Despite the heavy downpour on the afternoon of the 7^th day, the temple was jam-packed with visitors, and vehicles were streaming in and out non-stop the whole day.

Ampang Nan Tian Gong looking very glitzy just after dark (~7.30pm). The light stream all along Jalan Merdeka is an indication of how many visitors paid a visit to this temple.

As the festival draws towards the end, I will just show a few pictures tied to light and dark, reflections and contrast.

Falling lights - The North Star Deity Pagoda reflected onto the surface of water in a bucket. No, I am not Tua Pek Kong and that is not the number 1111. But if you do strike 4D-Magnum, I would love to have a share of it. If you don't win, do not blame me. Psst - buy 50 big, 50 small. Wait, it could be 7711, or 1144...

"The number you've dialed cannot be reached at this moment. Please try later."
Why I can't get you on your phone, Kow Ong Yeah? I need to ask a personal favour from you.
A guy sitting amidst the offerings, clutching his phone and looking very despondent. Either he isn't getting through to the gods on his phone, or he was forced to keep an eye over the offerings.

Priest: Are you ready for what's underneath my black coat...Ta daaa!
Urn Master: Hah, like that only ah??

or
Robin: Batman, there is something not right with your new costume.
Batman: Yeah, it is a little oversized and floppy.
Robin: Where did you get it from?
Batman: Oh, from a seller on eBay. It's a steal.
Robin: eBay where?
Batman: China, where else...
Robin: That figures (Smacks his own head)!

Fire and Water, Yin & Yang - the light of candles reflecting off the surface of a bucket of water which is used to douse the candles and the joss-sticks.

Remember to come on the 8^th day to see the Bridge Crossing Ceremony. which is open to all, male and female, vegetarian or omnivorous.

My links for the 2012 Nine Emperor Gods Festival @ Ampang Nan Tian Gong

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Feeding the Heavenly Soldiers - Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012 @ Ampang - Day 6

Today is one of the days where the Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple conducts a feeding of the heavenly soldiers ceremony. The Five General Gods (五营将军) are leaders of spiritual armies and therefore their troops need to be fed. On the first, third, sixth and the ninth days are days where food offerings will be made to this spiritual army.

Putting a joss-stick in each of the food bucket.

The ceremony starts with the food being brought out and placed in rows in front of the temple. The food is in buckets, with traditional wooden buckets for white rice and metal buckets for the mix vegetables, fried noodles, fried vermicelli and fried yam slices. To ensure that the heavenly soldiers can get to it, a joss-stick is stuck in each of the food buckets. The mediums then go into trance and starts to inspect the food. They also do acts of self-immolation (with blunt, serrated swords), which is pretty interesting to watch.

A joss-stick each for the rice buckets.

Urgggh!! Nope, still not going...Can someone pass me some Ducolax or Metamucil please. The medium who is in a trance is about to hit his back with the sword. He does this several times and facing two different directions.

Skip, skip, skip to my Lou, skip to my Lou my darlin'. Flies in the offerings, shoo, fly, shoo! - A medium passing by the food offerings.

Besides feeding the heavenly soldiers, the deities also do an inspection of the kitchen, temple grounds, dormitories and even the opera house to make sure that everything is in order. This event is a little tough to photograph, for the medium in trance moves quickly and the activity covers the entire temple grounds. I gave up chasing them, and I salute Cheryl for being able to keep up and follow them. Click here to see her photos of the 6^th Day of this festival.

Oh shit, the health inspectors are coming! Put on your aprons and caps...Oh wait, it is just Kow Ong Yeh.

At the end of the ceremony, the medium would come out of his trance in front of the Five General Deities' altar.

The food is then distributed amongst the devotees who are staying in the dormitories, with each area getting a bucket of white rice, fried noodles, fried vermicelli, mix vegetables and fried yam slices each. We were persistently asked to partake in the food by the volunteers, as they considered the food to be blessed. The thought of eating food that has being placed in metal buckets and out in the open for hours held me back from trying. Finally, with a little courage and a sprinkle of blind faith, we took a slice of fried yam each.

The food being distributed to the devotees and volunteers. No food offerings go to waste here. Nearest to the front is a bucket of fried yam slices and next to it are fried noodles. The noodles have been left out so long that it has imbibed with the sauce and has taken the shape of the bucket that it was place in.

After the ceremony, dark clouds rolled in, and later in the evening, a downpour followed suit. This did not dampen nor lessen the number of visitors to the temple. The number of people heading to the temple, plus the traffic jam is just mind-blowing.

Dark clouds loomed over Ampang Nan Tian Gong later in the evening.

Saturday Night Temple Fever. Photo taken at 11pm. Notice the cars backed up along Jalan Merdeka towards Pandan Mewah side. The road is jammed towards the Spectrum side as well.

If you have missed this round of the feeding of the heavenly soldiers, you still one more chance to witness it in this year, which will be on the 9^th day of this festival (23^rd October 2012).

My links for the 2012 Nine Emperor Gods Festival @ Ampang Nan Tian Gong

Eve - Raising the Lantern Pole
Eve - A Royal Invitation
Day 1 - Wet, Smoky and Crowded
Day 2 - Invitation of the Finance Minister
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6 - Feeding of the Heavenly Soldiers (this post)
Day 7
Day 8 - Crossing the Bridge Ceremony
Day 9 - Fire Crossing
Day 9 - Round and Round and the rest
Day 10 - Sending the Nine Emperor Gods Off
Day 10 - Taking Down the Lantern Pole

Friday, October 19, 2012

5th Day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2012 @ Ampang

Today's post revolves around the last S or the 3Ses - Savour. What is there to savour at Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival, you may ask? Well plenty. The first thing to savour is the atmosphere created through the devotees that are driven by faith. The zeal and fervour of the faithful gives this temple a carnival-like appeal. Some go into a trance-like state in front of the altar whilst others bring huge offerings as tokens of gratitude. No less are those who give donations that is acknowledged by the ringing of the temple bell and drum.

By the power of...Kow Ong Yeh...I have the power! - a devotee touched by the divine during prayers.

Assistants: Oh boy, I am gonna be famous!
Priest: When will this crazy guy stop taking photos. He must have a million shots of me and the prayers.
Me: Since I am a bad photographer, I use the rule of probability to get a good shot, the probability being less than 1 in 380 shots or so for a particular scene :-p

Next thing that must be savoured, and this can take several visits, is the food. Food is everywhere, and just like the faithful, pervades every corner of the temple grounds. All nine days isn't enough to try everything edible sold here. Perhaps that is the reason why people keep coming back year after year.

Stuffed vegetables, tofu and dumplings. You will never be hungry at this festival. Just don't forget to bring your wallet.

Chinese chestnut - the smell of it roasting will make you want to grab some. Pictured here are raw chestnuts and a colander of washed gravel. The gravel is used to transfer heat evenly to the chestnut as it is being stirred in a hot wok.

Local sweet cakes that is eaten with grated coconut. A good dessert for those with a sweet tooth or wants a sugar rush.

Vegetarian mix rice at the temple fair.

Last but not the least is fun aspect of it. If you do come to Ampang Nan Tian Gong Temple, you will be amazed at how a simple festival becomes a healthy family outing as both the young and ~~old~~ gracefully matured are catered for. Also do not fret if you are not vegetarian, for the mock meat stuff are pretty good and there are stalls selling non-vegetarian stuff on the stretch of road fronting the Ampang Old Folks Home.

If you have not tried Ai-Yu jelly in Taiwan, here's the place where you can have a try.

Playing a game of hide-and-seek with the photographer. Gotcha!!! I told her that she looks pretty in the photo, like a 16-year-old princess.

If you are free on Saturday (20^th October), do visit the temple in the aftertoon (1.30ish) to see the feeding of the heavenly soldiers. To see pictures of previous year's event, visit Cheryl's site here.

My links for the 2012 Nine Emperor Gods Festival @ Ampang Nan Tian Gong