Temple festivals and the goddess of the sea
Taiwan's folk temples are loud, colourful and close to everyday life. An introduction to temple festivals, processions and Mazu, the sea goddess.
If you walk through an older neighbourhood in Taiwan, sooner or later you will hear a temple festival before you see it: drums, gongs, firecrackers, and then a procession filling the street. Folk religion, mixing Buddhist, Taoist and local traditions, is part of daily life here, and the neighbourhood temple is often its centre.
Mazu
The best-loved deity in Taiwan is Mazu, a goddess of the sea and protector of fishermen and travellers. Her cult came with migrants from Fujian across the strait, and there are temples dedicated to her all over the island. Her birthday falls on the 23rd day of the third lunar month, usually in April or May, and the weeks around it are the busiest of the festival year.
The most famous event is the Dajia Mazu pilgrimage in central Taiwan, a procession lasting more than a week in which a statue of the goddess is carried from temple to temple, followed by huge numbers of people on foot.
What you will see
- Processions with palanquins carrying the deities, often swaying as if the gods themselves were moving them
- Troupes such as the Ba Jia Jiang, performers with painted faces and elaborate costumes who act as the gods' guards
- Offerings of flowers, fruit and food on tables outside the temple and along the route
- Incense, from single sticks to large coils hanging from the ceiling
How to be a good observer
- Stay at the side of the road and do not block the procession.
- Ask before photographing performers up close; some troupes have rules about this.
- Be ready for loud firecrackers and smoke.
- Inside temples, enter through the right-hand door and leave through the left, and do not step on the raised threshold.
What I find moving about these festivals is how local they are. They belong to a neighbourhood, organised by its people, for its gods. A visitor is welcome to watch, and that invitation is worth accepting with respect.
Photos: travelmonkeytaiwan, stevenstung, viarami, michoff on Pixabay, used under the Pixabay Content License. These are not my photographs.
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