celebration in Singapore
Being a multi-racial society, Singapore has many festivals and cultures. Below are some of the festivals celebrated by the locals annually:
* Mid-Autumn Festival
* Hungry Ghost Festival
* Fire-walking Festival
* Deepavali [Festival of Lights]
* Thaipusam [Festival of Purification]
In Singapore, 2 weeks before the festival celebrations, shops and restaurants selling mooncakes put up colourful banners to attract customers. Colourful lanterns (made of paper or plastic materials) are also displayed for sale.
The mooncakes are round - resembling the moon. To the Chinese, roundness signifies completeness and fulfilment. They are made from a pastry crust and stuffed with blackbean, yellow-bean, lotus, yam or durian pastes. Another variety has egg yolks. cylindrical wheatflour mooncakes come in little baskets.
During this season, families exchange gifts of mooncakes to foster close relation. Mooncakes are a "must" as offerings when young women worship the Queen of the Night on the 15th da
Children will carry lighted lanterns around the neighbourhood. These laterns come in many shapes and designs eg. dragons, tigers, phoenixes, butterflies, carps, etc
The festival begins on the 1st day of the 7th moon of the Chinese Lunar calender. For the whole month, spirits of the departed are believed to roam the earth
Those spirits with living relatives will go to their homes to share the comforts. Food, drinks, joss-sticks, "hell-money" (currency notes drawn on the Bank of Hell) are offered to the spirits. Spirits of those who died without descendants are said to wander around the streets. And for fear of that these spirits may be unhappy, feasts and theatrical operas are staged outdoors to placate them
Traditionally, operas were staged to entertain the spirits. Now, some organisers put on "pop" concert instead. Performances at market places or food centres usually start in the afternoon and continue until late in the night. There is no charge to viewing these performances. Before the feasts held in public, non-perishable offerings are displayed before an altar in a marquee surrounded by candles and giant joss-sticks
As the 7th month draws to a close, Chinese dinners are held for the living, with 'crazy auctions" to raise funds for next year's festival. Items for auction include ceramic images of deities, household utensils, pots of flowers and the most sought after 'black gold' (a log of charcoal decorated with ornaments). The 'black gold' is thought to embody the powers of the spirits present at the feasts - it symbolises prosperity and good luck. Ornamental plants are also popular - it is a sign of good fortune when the plants bloom
Spectators can see devotees defy the laws of nature : some devotees trend on glowing embers in a trench while others dash across it - barefooted and unscathed !!!
Some of the devotees even carry children in their arms as their stroll or run across the pit.
The Hindus believe that only those pure in mind and soul will not be harmed by fire. Supplicants pray to the goddess for aid and those whose wishes have been granted give thanks by walking on fire.
Homes are spring-cleaned and decorated with lights as Goddess Lakshmi is believed to visit homes that are neat and brightly lighted up. Delicacies, including muruku (a crispy vermicelli spiced with chilli powder) are prepared. Special prayers are offered to departed members of the family whose souls are believed to return to earth at this time. Delicacies are spread out before photographs of the departed ones and the family get together to pray.
The Hindu temples are packed with worshippers. The temples are lighted up and shrines are decorated with lights and garlands. Offerings of flowers and fruits are made. There is a grand procession with the presiding deity of the temple being carried around the grounds. Visitors are welcome to watch the festivities at the temples.
To onlookers, Thaipusam is normally associated with kavadis that the believers carry in processon and the miracle of skewersand hooks that pierce their bodes. kavadis are arched shoulder frames of bamboo and wood and decorated with peacock feathers, flowers and pictures of Lord Subramaniam. Pots of milk are hung on each kavadi.
From early morning till after sunset, hundreds of devotees carry kavadis and make their way along the 3 km route from Perumal Temple (in Serangoon Road) to Thandayuthapani (subramaniam) Temple in Tank Road. This is a field day for tourists as well as local shutterbugs to snap dramatic pictures. Kavadi literally means "sacrifice at every step".
Celebration of Thaipusam begins at dawn with the devotees preparing themselves for the procession in the grounds of the Temple. All along the route (from one temple to the other) you can hear devotees chanting. Penitents pierce their bodies, foreheads, cheeks and even tongues with skewers and hooks. This is a demonstration of penance. Male kavadi carriers are dressed in yellow and their bodies are smeared with ash. Women kavadi carriers wear yellow saris. These penitents are supported by relatives and friends who follow them from the time they step out of the temple until the spikes are removed outside the destinated Temple.
Access to the temple is free of charge. There is no objection to people taking photographs, however shoes must be removed in the temple courtyards.
Copyright (c) July 1998-2005, Agnes Ta