Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Johor Old Temple


The last 14 of February 2009 was a Valentine's Day. It also coincided with an auspicios day of the Johor Old Temple whereby the images of the deities were transferred out of the temple and put to chingay procession.

I happened to be on the spot just in front of the Johor Old Temple. There were many worshippers carrying joysticks waiting for the images of the 5 deities being transferred out of the temple.

After hearing the sound of whistle and shout inside the temple, the first image of deity was transferred out. The worshippers and audience clapped their hands and shouted in exitement. It followed by the images of the other 4 deities.

One specific act performed by the carriers of the images of deities was that the images of deities riding on the sedan chairs were swung left and right many times along the procession to the Resting Temple about 3 km away.

This tradition has been conducted since 100 years ago.

As the Johor Old Temple witnesses the growth of Johor Bahru, the celebration is very meaningful to Johor Bahru Chinese until they claim that the Chinese New Year is not over until the Chingay Procession.

This post is written by Chai Yong of http://www.temasekmap.com which is about an ebook Travel Guide of Singapore Batam Bintan and Johor. You may obtain map of Johor & Johor Bahru and Travel Guide of Johor by visiting the website.

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