The Return of the Nine Emperor Deities bringing protection and salvation to mankind.

Here is the newly selected trustee. The trustee at the head of the procession to the river.

The procession begins.

At the river, the deities are invited into the bodies of the humans. However, with too many people crowding around, that could not be seen. Possibly, the atmsophere is recorded as people moves away from the river with the arrival of each deity.

The deities move to the chariots to return to the temple.


Here's one of the Nine Emperor Deities walking and dancing to the temple through the streets in the darkness of the night.
-------------------------------------------


The Nine Emperor Deities Festival which starts on Sunday, the 18th of October, 2009 is a Taoist festival which celebrates the return of the Nine Emperor Deities from heaven to earth. These Nine Emperor Deities or Kew Ong Yah(九皇爺) are worshiped as one deity known as 'Thien Hou', the Taoist goddess of the sea and queen of heaven who represents health, wealth and prosperity. The festival is celebrated for nine days, from the first day to the ninth day of the ninth moon in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Starting from the evening of the eve of the first day of the ninth moon, Devotees gather at 'Kew Ong Yah temples everywhere for the festival. These nine deities are believed to dwell in the stars in the Northern Heaven.Each year, they are requested to return to give salvation and protection to mankind.

About a week before the eve of the Chinese Ninth Lunar, each Nine Emperor Deities' temple would choose a trustee, usually a wealthy businessperson, would be chosen from among a good number of applicants for the post, to manage the festival.

So, on the eve of the Chinese ninth moon, the Nine Emperor Deities' temples hold a ceremony to welcome the return of the Nine Emperor Deities. Since these deities' passage from heaven to earth is through the waterways, a place at a river or the sea would be selected to welcome them. Sometimes symbolic lions, with lion dancers as well as drums and cymbals are used to welcome them. In the evening, devotees holding joss-sticks would follow a procession to the river to welcome the spirits. The spirits would enter the bodies of humans who had gone through a cleansing of the body. These humans would go into a trance. Later in the night, the devotees would accompany the Nine Emperor Deities back to the temple.

For the next nine days, the Nine Emperor Deities would go through the business centres or areas to bring luck, prosperity and protection.

As we can see, as in all religions, spirits, deities and Gods bring peace of mind as well as a sense of security to all devotees. Through the divine spirit, Man has been able to face the unknown and all other challenges to stay secure in his faith in the divine.