The devotees are living testimony of the goodness of a deity.

The devotees start to gather for the procession.


One of the young devotees who took part in the dance and show.


Another young participant of the dance in front of the chariot.


Wow! Look at those performers! Unfortunately, it's quite dark at almost midnight.


And at one side of the road is this deity. Frankly, I don't know about this. Those knowledgeable ones, please enlighten us. Please write in your comments.


Just look at the big turnout!


That's Lord Ganesan's chariot.


A closer look at the chariot.


Look at those horses! It's supposed to be drawn by them.


Another part of the chariot.


Another look at the chariot.


This is how the back of the chariot look. Why do I look show every side. Well a four sided things is like a sculpture. It must be just as interesting and beautiful no matter which angle you look at it. So is life. (I'll write about that in another post.)


A closer look at the back.


That's the entrance to temple of Lord Murga. Do you know who Lord Murga is? Please read on and find out for yourself.

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The day before, it was Lord Ganesan's birthday. The next day, there was an even greater crowd at night as the devotees accompanied Lord Ganesan in a procession or wait for him to reach their abode when they could pray to him with trays of food, candles and joss-sticks.

Those who accompanied him were dressed in their finest attire, making this outing a fantastically glorious journey through the part of town which was near the temple, from the temple to Jalan Sekarat, Jalan Kuala Ketil, Jalan Ibrahim towards the bus-station and then back to the temple. It ended well past midnight.

In fact, at midnight, it had just reached the temple of Lord Murga which is situated in Jalan Kuala Ketil with the entrance facing Jalan Sekarat. The procession went into Lord Murga Temple as Lord Murga is Lord Ganesan's younger brother. It was to pay respect to his brother that Lord Ganesan stopped there for a while. That was at midnight.

The procession was slow as the chariot with Lord Ganesan, the elephant deity, had to stop every so often to all the thousands of devotees to come forward to pray at the chariot. Despite the drizzle, devotees lined the streets and followed the chariot through part of the town back to the temple. The thousands of devotees seen last night is clear indication of the popularity of Lord Ganesan. He must have helped a lot of people to find peace and good health as well as give miraculous recovery from some kind of sickness.

When it comes to miraculous cures, I have heard from my own father how my uncle, Lim Eu Hor, the medium for Lord Ganesan, had done that merely with a touch of the hand even before a temple was built for him. Lord Ganesan had used him to cure the sick. I was able to talk with my uncle for some years before he passed on.

Lord Ganesan's devotees from the old Tai Pee San Temple at Tanjung Bunga can attest to the cures.

However, the old temple had been demolished and a new temple to replace it is some distance away.

God works in mysterious ways, ways we humans find hard to fathom. Every now and then someone is cured miraculously. Even those who belong to religions which do not believe in spirits and deities have come across such stories from people, sometimes believable rlatives, who have recieved such blessings.

Nevertheless, such miracles do occur when someone reaches out in belief to God through any medium.