The entrance of Lin Tian Temple
People were gathering and waiting for prayer ceremony.
Lin Tian Temple of The Three Kings
the interior of the temple
The Three Kings represent the three guardians of three mountains
old photographs depict the history and efforts of our ancestor.
People burn incenses and light up candles for The Three Kings
Actually Chinese believe polytheism. However, many of them think they are Buddhists. After the prayer we will watch lion dance 舞狮 outside the temple. It is actually part of the praying ceremony, indicate the monster is finally been chased out of the village. For those who don't really understand Chinese culture, let me explain to you. The lion in lion dance is actually not a lion, it's supposed to be called Nian or 年 in Chinese (which means Year) According the legend, Nian will attack village during the first day of first month of the year (Chinese lunar calendar) villagers have finally realized Nian is afraid of red colour and the noise of firecracker and drum. When Nian comes back again, villagers chase Nian out by wearing red, burning firecrackers and playing drum. The tradition remains despite Nian never come back again.
Kids favourite: lion dance
cai qing 采青
Lion
Last but not least, temple provided believers with free lunch. People worked together to setup their own table and arrange chair by themselves. However, it's not really a proper meal, because they provide only meats: chicken, duck, mutton, and pork. The best thing is, they provided also beers, a lot of beers! Tiger beer, Carlsberg and also Heineken.
the 2 Indian kids come to get angpau
lion and horse
Please take note of the lion and horse, when I was small, I used to ride on them and got scolded by parents, haha. Here i wish all my friends and readers a happy Chinese new year and a healthy and prosperous year of Tiger.
