2012 Johore Temple Festival: Deities leaving the temple

The 2012 Johor Bahru Temple Festival had a special significance: it was given the status of intangible heritage of Malaysia.  It was my third consecutive visit to the procession of the deities, held on the 21st day of the first Lunar Month (12 Feb 2012).

The day before the procuession of the deities, the deities would leave the temples and would go on a procession to a gathering place called Xing Gong 行宫 (next to a crematorium).   I just attended the gathering at Xing Gong.  You would need to take a cab from the city centre as it was a few kilomentres away.  Imagine the devotees who walked the distance.

The place was crowded and followers were offering prayers to the Teochew, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainan deities.


  While I was there, the Hokkien community were starting their praying session:




Other deities were also congregated at the Xing Gong:


There were of course Chinese wanyang performances at the venue, but no one really paid attention.


I managed to find a taxi back after a while.  The ceremony was interesting, but finding transportation back would be a challenge.


Next time round, I would go early to catch the deities leaving the temple.

The 2011 Johor Bahru Temple Festival could be found at Johore Temple Festival 2011