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.

[Previous - Day 8] [Back to first post] [Sending the Nine Emperor Gods off]

Eighth Day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2011(九皇大帝) at Ampang (Day 8)

The eighth day of the festival came in a flash (more like I dozed off last night and woke up to the sun shining on my face). Today is the day where they will conduct the crossing the bridge ceremony at 8pm as a form of blessing to the devotees. The morning started off bright, but by midday, dark clouds were rolling in and the heavens roared now and then. I was kind of expecting this, for every time there is a major event during the Nine Emperor Gods festival here in Ampang, it will at least drizzle lightly prior to the ceremony. This is sort of like the gods giving the place a quick wash down.

The dark clouds rolling in at 12.18pm of the 8th day of the celebration.

As expected, the heavens opened up minutes later and it was pouring with rain!

6.30pm - Managed to get back from work early and took a shower and headed towards the temple. At around 7pm, there isn't much of a crowd, though I sense that this wouldn't be true in an hour's time. The sky was still bright, and by using a daylight white balance setting, I managed to get some interesting shots.

This is the Dao (the path) to the Nine Emperor Gods.

When I arrived, the temple staff were in the midst of sweeping the area to be used for the bridge crossing ceremony. Since they are going to cross a bridge tonight, they have got to build one. The frame for the bridge is a long ladder like structure on stilts and steps at both ends. Then a plank is place onto the structure to provide the walkway. This is then followed by 'structural testing' to ensure that it is worthy bridge. Flags are put put up and on both ends, the Or Leng Ki (two on each end) to 'guard' the walkway. Flowers were used to adorn the bridge, and the entire walkway, steps and the ground leading to and from the bridge was covered with joss paper. This is followed by the placement of buckets filled with water, and more importantly, oil lamps under the bridge to represent the Big Dipper Stars. Without these lamps, it would be just any other bridge and this cannot qualify as Crossing the Peace Bridge (過平安橋/过平安桥). The lamps are left there, waiting to be lit at the right time to signify the start of  the event.

Heave ho! It ain't heavy, its a bridge for God's sake!!!

A little to the left, no a little to the right...That should be alright.

Megastructures...NOT!

See, told you it can support my weight.

Just a little bit more to your left. Perfect. Just hold still until the end of the ceremony.

The RELA men guarding the bridge from the marauding photographers.

Adding a touch of gold to the bridge - joss paper used to line the entire structure. The Or Leng Ki is about to be set up.

Once the Or Leng Ki are up, they are tied together to close the bridge until the arrival of the spirit medium. Under the bridge, seven oil lamps (two are highlighted and indicated with yellow arrows) are placed beneath the bridge. This will be lit on the arrival of the spirit medium.

There was quite a long wait. During that time, the number of photographers kept building up and were crossing the barricades set up by the temple staff and RELA members. Public announcements were made to inform visitors that all can participate in this event, regardless of whether you have been observing a vegetarian diet or not. The organisers however, would give priority to the aged and those staying in the temple to cross the bridge first. Then the rest can follow. Parents with children are also led to the front of the queue. 

The time is near, the temple staff get their candles burning and ready.

All systems GO! The lamps are lit as the spirit medium reaches the entrance of the bridge (opposite end). The clanging of cymbals and the bellows of the horn trumpets rose to a deafening roar.

The main spirit medium crosses first, followed by the other mediums and the VIPs of this event. They will cross the bridge a second time. The othe spirit mediums will guard the entrance and the exit of the bridge whilst the main spirit medium will sit or stand facing the bridge. Occasionally, he beckons a devotee whom had just crossed the bridge to his side, and gives them a bracelet each.

Assistance for the aged to descend from the bridge.

The medium seated on the sedan chair, looking out for devotees that deserves his gifts of bracelets.

After taking some shots of the event, I decided that I will cross the bridge as well, just for the sake of experience. The queue was long, and many were first timers too. When you reach the entrance of the bridge, a medium is standing guard, and he will either do nothing and you walk through, or he will stop you and wave his small Or Leng Ki over your head a few times. Worst case senario - he stops you outright and uses his fingers and proceed to write some protective characters on top of your head or at the back of your neck The area behind the neck is believed by Taoist to be the point where malevolent spirits enter a person's body to possess it whilst the top of your head is the spirit axis (tilted somewhat backwards like the Earth's axis) is the divine connection axis. I only got the Or Leng Ki treatment, thank goodness. As you pass the bridge, there are buckets (yes, big buckets!) for you to put money in. Shouts of Huat ah! resounded from the temple staff who are in charge of the buckets (hmm, Huat indeed for them). They will also stamp the back of your shirt with the protective seal of the temple, so do wear something that you wouldn't mind getting 'defaced'. The actual crossing of the bridge took less than 15 seconds, but I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a try. Now I can say that I have traversed the seven Big Dipper stars.

Now all that is left is tomorrow's fire crossing event...

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Seventh Day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2011(九皇大帝) at Ampang (Day 7)

Today is the seventh day of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival (3rd October 2011). Just three more days to go before the festival comes to an end for this year. Despite being the 7th day and the last 3 days of the festivals (many who cannot do the vegetarian fast for nine days will opt for the last 3 days), the festival appears to be suffering from a bit of the Monday blues for it was far quieter than on last Thursday or Friday morning.

9.47am - Pretty quiet for the 7th day. The large complex to the right of the temple is the Ampang New Village School.

The crowd had already thinned out by 2.44am in the wee hours of Monday morning.

The smoldering joss stick pit and the relatively empty parking lot on Monday morning.

After a mad rush back from work (traffic crawl at NKVE and taking a detour using the Guthrie Corridor to get back to DUKE highway) and a quick shower, I make my usual dash to the temple, hoping that I had not missed out on any good shots. A quick glimpse out the window before I leave hinted to me that the Monday morning blues had totally been wiped out. Hell, it looked a lot more like a Friday night. No, make that more hectic than last Friday night. The crowd was like, let me put it this way, Bukit Bintang on a Friday night - just imagine that the temple as the Pavillion/Starhill and Jalan Merdeka as Bintang Walk, the stalls as all the al fresco dining spots and there you are - Bukit Bintang! (I could almost hear Kathy Perry's Last Friday Night playing in background, lol) Well, no quite  - can't say much about the smoke and the beggers though. The number of beggars seemed to have swelled over the last few days.

You do not have to put any effort to walk on once you are inside the temple compound, for the swell of people will push you onwards. That is how large the crowd is. There was a seance in progress in front of the Five Generals' altar, so I shuttled between taking shots on the inside the temple (I am still bent on taking photos of Marshall Tian and Lin) and standing at the threshold of the small left door to catch pictures of the seance in progress. Somehow I am awed by the medium (or the deity). He has to keep on switching between the roles of a psychologist, physician, teacher and being a divine being throughout the session. That is a lot of hats to wear!

The joss stick goes in, the workers take them out (in about one minute's time). Will post a video of the workers in action later.

The queue for the Nine Emperor Gods Fan Club starts at the main hall.

The Tian and Lin Marshall Fan Club lines aren't too shabby either.

Looks like the Nine Emperor Gods Fan Club queue just kept on growing longer by the minute.

An offering of light by a devotee.

Listening to the devotee's problems.

Inquiries on the doctor's consultation hours.

Oh my god! So so excited.
The fan club photo shots - finally one of the fans gets to meet his idol.

Wow, he gets his five minutes of chatting with his idol. And he leaves with at least one personally autograph slips (talismans).

Female fans waiting anxiously in line to meet their idol.

Oh, hurry up you cow! I have been standing here in this line for hours. I too want to meet my idol. 
Notice the black flag, which is the Or Leng Ki (黑令旗/黑令旗) that is used in every trance session to ward off evil spirits and protect the area.

The lady in purple: Hey, the bi@$%  jumped the queue. Damn!!! (they are given numbers, so the assistant will make sure that they go accordingly to their numbers). You can see another Or Leng Ki (showing the Yin-Yang symbol with the Eight Trigrams on the far end of the seance area. They form a barricade around the area of where the medium was seated.

Peekaboo, I see you! The red door under the North Star Pagoda. Reminds me of Alice in Wonderland. Half expecting to see a human sized bunny popping out of the door.

Another red door.

For your bacterial infection, please take this antibiotic three times daily after food, okay? And see me in one year's time.
The doctor (medium) and his pharmacist (the assistant) in action. The assistant will explain that some talismans are to be burned and consumed whilst the other is to be carried or pasted on walls.

Rejected Chinese TV serial script
Chinese physician: Hmmm...Congratulations, you are pregnant (after checking the woman's pulse).
Chinese Lady: But..but..doctor, I am 65, had not have sex for ages plus my factory already close down long time ago (a local way of saying that you're postmenopausal)!!! How can this be? 
Chinese Physician: Praise the Gods, it is a miracle. You are blessed indeed. 
Fairies sing: For unto a us a child is born.... Chinese lady swoons and passes out.

After getting tired of taking photos of the medium, I went off to take photos of the dragon joss sticks. They have the habit of spitting out sparks or suddenly rekindling in the wind, so photographers beware.

A forest of dragon joss sticks.

Long joss sticks crackling and sometimes bursting into flames in the wind.

I still have many more photos to post, due to time constraints will only do so after the festivals ends. Do come back and check.

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