Festival Starts October 3rd!

Late afternoon at the Nine Emperor Gods Temple today was a flurry of last minute preparations. The “Masters” were there, a few devotees were arriving, and there were quite a number of curious onlookers. The flagpole goes up tomorrow, October 3rd and the procession to receive the Emperor starts at 7pm from the temple.

Each chariot is adorned with 10 windings of strong, white ribbon on both sides. I was told that this pattern has a secret significance that was apparently not going to be shared with the curious crowd gathered around. I expect that its significance is mired in myth and it is likely, as well, that it provides much needed extra support to the chariot during the procession. In fact, the chariots go in to a real shake, rattle and roll when the Gods are placed in them – a real crowd pleaser. (Photos of that to come later)

Over at the opera house, the yellow curtains have been hung so that the Emperor can be placed there for one night.

 

The new statue of Tua Pek Gong has now been empowered and boasts the tiny red dots that indicate that it has been “opened”/blessed by a ceremonial act of a Taoist priest. This statue was made in China and flown to KL in its own seat on the airplane – you can’t put a god in the cargo hold!

 

Dusk fell quickly and the workers were still preparing the chariots as I left the grounds. You can see the flagpole on the left, in the photo below, ready for tomorrow’s raising ceremony.

 

The quiet of the scene tonight is like the calm before the storm. I’ll try to take a photo from in front of the gate tomorrow to show you the difference 24 hrs makes.