This is an important Taoist festival, in honour of the sons of Dou Mu (North Star Goddess.) Strict vegetarian diets are enforced in the 9 day festival (27Th Sept to 5th Oct)for devotees who partake in the actual rituals. This year the Taoist Temple of Kew Ong Yeah in Jalan Megat Harun in Bukit Mertajam, Penang has a paper horse figurine measuring 2.1m tall and 2.7m long as well as a boat, named Wang Chuan, measuring 5.4m tall, 5.7m long with a width of 1.8m is the biggest ever made for this festival in Penang .
The chief of the 9 brother deities, Loh Chu, will ride the royal horse called Wang Mu on his journey back to the Heavenly realms during the highlight of the festival when the deities are being sent off. There are 5 smaller horse figurines made specially for the Emperor’s generals. These horses are “fed’ with grains, grasses and water during the 9 day festival. A 30m tall bamboo pole is dug into the temple grounds to facilitate the deities’ descend to earth during the celebrations which has the highlight of 30 youths going into trance and 200 other devotees walking the Fire pit which is exactly 9 m long in the Fire Walking ceremony.
These photos depicts some of the scene of the ceremonial prayers and are courtesy of Betty Seah.
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