Sunday, April 19, 2009

Matsu’s Bday 媽祖誕辰

yesterday i was home

Lunar calendar March, 23th

the birthday of 媽祖, Matsu

In Melaka

there are no parades so far as I know

but prayers are conducted at Matsu’s Temple

興安會館 houses the largest Matsu’s Temple in Melaka

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i supposed most of the temples

with 媽祖 as the main goddess

will be known as 天后宮

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興安會館 is something so familiar

my house is only less than 1km away

so it’s a place we know since children

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it’s a 4 storey building consists of

- a multi-purpose sport hall (MPSH) 金樹堂

- a mid-range hotel, 雅舍

- the temple 天后宮

- a badminton stadium behind the main building

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The main temple… 金碧輝煌 

color theme is the typical black and gold

the main structures are mostly newly constructed

imitating the old quaint temple design

some are real antique items preserved

like tables, lamps etc…

but the whole structures are blended harmoniously

the old and the new one

 

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actually there are some amazing structures

that I should have captured

but due to the crowd

and the smokiness due to the josstick

it is kinda difficult for me

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will capture more next time during normal days

we used to come here quite often

with home-planted flowers as offering

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The opera…

This year it is kinda special

because the group presenter

was  from China, 漳州

usually the opera will be shown for one week

Chinese opera

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the show yesterday was known as 《宮廷恩怨》

starring… 包青天

Justice Pao

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My dad stayed back to watch the whole thing

but he said it wasn’t as good as those

he used to watch as a kid

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the opera is something like

part of the offerings to the god too

but of course

in the past, it is a great entertainment

for the people who visit the temple

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there was a mini firework show too

i missed to take the photo

because that time

the kid was scared

and clutching to me so tight

harassing me to go to the side

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at the main hall,

there are Taoism Monk, SaiKong

to perform a praying rituals,

with elaborated setup and offerings

can last up to days i think

Taoism prayers

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public can pay an affordable sum of money

to ‘register’ as part of the praying rituals

in other words,

the monks will be praying

on behalf on the person

usually people are praying for

good health, luck etc….

this is quite a common practice

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my shirt with the blessing chop

done by the “god in trance "

a.k.a DangJi 覘童

i just wish myself good luck

for the coming exams

blessed shirt

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the glowing building

forgot to take the view right from the front

Tian Hou Kong, Melaka *

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met an middle-aged (must emphasize this)

Australian guy

when i was watching the opera

he is an English teacher

travelling around

he showed me his photos

while at China, Guangxi

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he is very interested in cultural stuffs

he even mentioned watching such Opera before

during Hungry Ghost Month

at Sungai Petani

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besides, he showed me photo of

the reverend Master 淨空

and he knows about 星雲大師 and 寂晃長老

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p.s.

few years back,

the society also introduced

marriage registration service here

so couples can be sworn in as husband and wife

right in the temple,

in front of all the gods and goddesses.

how sweet is that to be married

at such a quaint place… 

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p.s.

would like to blog more about

local events and occasions

finally I decided to use English

because i think it may expose

non-Mandarin readers to be exposed

to new things

although i am not really an expert in these things

still learning and discovering

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i will try to describe things

in the most exact and appropriate term possible

will cover more of this temple soon…

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