Johore Temple Festival 2013: Deities leaving the Old Temple

It was the 20th Day of the First Lunar Month, and the Johore Temple Festival entered its final and important phase.  I was last year for the event and therefore I made the trip again this time. Traffice from Singapore to Johore was heavy but I managed to arrive just in time.

A lion dance troupe awaiting for the deities to arrive......

The Johore Temple Festival was the parade of 5 deities belonging to the 5 dialect groups: Hainanese, Hakka, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew. The actual procession was on the 21st day of the First Lunar Month.  Most Johore residents would only consider the Lunar New Year has ended after the procession was over.


The procession to the Main Temple has started!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The street was closed to traffic and was packed with people. There was always an excitement when sedan carrying the deity arrived.   All in, there were 5 deities leaving the temple and headed towards a gathering place, few kilometres from the starting (city centre).

At certain points, the carriers of the deity would tilt the sedan sideways (see photos below) and the crowd would shout  auspicious words like "heng" or "huat", both meaning good prosperity in Chinese dialects.

This event has been held over the past century and it was named the Intangible Heritage of Malaysia in 2012.  The crowd was huge but orderly...

At the end of the line were followers of the faith joining the procession to the holding area for next evening's procession, Xing Gong 行宫.

I was taking photos of the procession and chatted with 2 gentlemen in the procession.  One of them gave me his joss stick obtained from the temple and encouraged me to complete the procession. 

The distance was not long (maybe 2 km) but the constant stopping along the road (due to followers swinging the sedan chair of the deities) and the smoke from the joss stick made the journey tougher than expected. 

There was already much activities at the temple (Xing Gong)

The 5 deities were placed inside the building and the blessing ceremony began.

Offerings were put onto the altar and believers sought blessings there. The ceremony lasted through the night.

And all were set for the following day's procession.

For blog entries on  the procession, and for past years' festivals, please go to Johore Temple Festival 2012