Each palanquin first paid respects to the sea and then to the Taoist altar. The palanquin bearers then knelt down, as did the devoteesas a sign of respect
Nine Emperor Gods Festival 3. Sending off by Long Nan Dian Dou Mu Gong (龍南殿斗母宫)
Long Nan Dian Dou Mu Gong (龍南殿斗母宫) is at present being relocated to a new site in Singapore, and will have to share the new premises with two other temples; a Thai Buddhist temple, and Bao Gong Temple respectively in Seng Kang West. This is becoming a trend now in Singapore, and I understand that it is socially engineered by the government to contain and control religious institutions, but I would have to talk to someone in government to get an official perspective on this. Anyway, due to a lack of official temple, Long Nan Dian erected an impressive tentage alongside Eunos MRT station, complete with free vegetarian food, a Ping An bridge for good luck and prosperity, their new and extremely impressive 1000 Armed Kuan Yin statue, and a full set of nine palanquins to carry the Nine Emperor Gods.
Devotees congregated at the tentage, and busses were provided to take devotees, each carrying a candle and large incense stick, to the sending off point at East Coast Park - car park F, which is alongside a picturesque stretch of palm fringed shore line. Set up on the beach was a large incinerator which, as I arrived, was in the process of being filled with ghost money and other paper offerings, also, three impressive paper boats made of slips of paper with devotees names attached, and a large table to serve as the Taoist altar for the ceremonies. Of special note is that on the altar were nine plates of ashes, each representing one of the Nine Emperor Gods, which would later be replaced by urns of burning incense and deity tablets brought from the tentage with the palanquins. At the end of the rituals, these would be ceremonially carried by temple members into the sea to both physically and symbolically send off the deities. It seems a common conception that the incense ashes carry the spirit of the Emperor Gods. However, from a Taoist perspective, the spirits had been residing in temporary paper tablets which were I believe burned in the urns (awaiting confirmation of this), and it was these ashes which represented the spirits of the deities.
Before the main rituals started there was a period of contemplation, personal prayer and devotion on the beach, as individual followers lit incense and candles, and prayed (bai bai) facing the sea. These personal moments carried as much weight for many devotees as the grander rituals. The prevailing belief is that the Nine Emperor Gods who represent / dwell in / are representing the constellation of the Big Dipper can help mankind. For example, by removing misfortune, preventing disasters and blessing individual devotees with peace in the family, and longevity for their elders.
There were four main ceremonial events. The Taoist ritual at the altar to send the Nine Emperor Gods back to the Heavenly Realms, the parading of the palanquins first along the beach and then towards the sea and the Taoist altar, the burning of the paper boats at sea, and lastly the physical sending off of the deities by devotees who, due to new government laws, were required to wear life jackets (this is the first year this has been obligatory). From the Taoist perspective, when the ashes entered the sea, the Nine Emperor Gods would return to the Heavenly Realms. The Taoist exegesis of the Heavenly Realms finds materiality in the constellations, of which the Nine Emperor Gods form the 7 stars of the Big Dipper plus two stars invisible to the naked eye close to the same constellation. There are three realms of existence, Heaven, Earth and Water, and the higher realms, the heavenly realms, are literally in the sky and metaphorically above us spiritually.
As the beach was crowded by the time the ritual started, I could only choose one place to stand. As an anthropologist I was drawn towards the Taoist altar, but as a visual anthropologist I was drawn to the spot where the palanquins would pay respects to the sea and where the urns would travel to be deposited in the sea. The visual anthropologist won out on this occasion, and I placed myself at the end of a long line of devotees who each had planted a candle and joss stick in the sand to form a pathway for the deities (palanquins and urns) to travel along from the altar to the sea. In the spirit of participant observation, I of course did the same. Each devotee held three incense sticks of their own.
The entire scene was floodlit and as the Taoist priests chanted from a liturgical canon to send off the deities and ask for luck and blessings, and the palanquins charged towards the sea and then towards the altar as a sign of respect. Then, after a short period of intense silent reverence, the crowds began to chant the name of the temple in Hokkien “Leong Nam Dian” (Southern Dragon Temple) to which the reply, also in Hokkien was a rapturous yell of “Huat Ah! Huat Ah! Huat Ah!” meaning “Prosper, Prosper Prosper” as each of the nine urns full of burning embers were carried down to the sea, and then out to the point where the water was too deep to carry them any further. The ceremony finished well after midnight, and it was an amazing feeling to be there to observe, and where possible, to participate.
Many thanks to all the friendly people there who kindly let me join in, or make space for me and my camera, and special thanks to Victor for inviting me along and taking me home afterwards, and to Liying for sharing her excellent Taoist knowledge.
