Thursday, April 28, 2016

Prayer Ceremony in a Hainan Village Temple 海南村庙祈祷仪式

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I was brought to a neighbouring village to watch a prayer ceremony at a Hainanese temple. It was a small village but it combined with another two villages to celebrate the event. As it was a weekday morning, there were not many worshippers.

The event would last 4 days including two days of Hainanese opera.

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At the entrance of the village were banners acknowledging the contributors and donors.

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There were three taoist priests performing the prayer rituals and religious rites. It was a terribly hot day, yet the men were dressed in thick ceremonial robes.

As I was going through the photos, I just realised I was the only woman present. Many of the women were busy cooking and taking care of their kids in their homes.
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Names of devotees were hand-written on all the talismans. 

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Some villagers watching the ceremony from a shady shelter.

Chatting with my nephew's wife, she informed me that the temple celebrations at a town temple would be more interesting as there will be devotees performing fire walking and stepping on knife blades.


我被带到邻村参观海南乡村的寺庙祈祷仪式。这个小村庄与其他两个小村一起举办庆祝活动。因为是一个周日早上,所以没有很多信徒。这次活动将持续4天,包括两天的海南街戏。

举行敬香和祈祷仪式时,道士装神穿腮跳神舞。在较大的城镇可以看到过火山、上刀梯、一些富有神秘色彩的民俗活动,让人大开眼界。

1 comment:

  1. how much i enjoy "traveling" with you in your posts...thank you for inviting all of us along

    ReplyDelete