Coming to the end of week three in the theme competition. Some good guesses so far, keep them coming in.

Two Taiwanese men run away from exploding fireworks during the 2008 Mazu Festival in Changhua, Taiwan.

Among the many gods and goddesses worshipped in Taiwan, Mazu (媽祖), the Goddess of the Sea is perhaps the most revered. Every year, in the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, the Dajia Mazu (大甲媽祖), which is housed at the Zhenlan temple (鎮瀾宮), is taken out on a pilgrimage lasting 8 days and covering 300km. Over the course of the 8 days, more than 1 million people will come out to see Mazu as she makes her way from Dajia to Hsingang in Jiayi county and back again, visiting more than 80 temples. It is thought that the Mazu pilgrimage is one of the three largest religious festivals in the world.

Some of the devout followers of Mazu.

Fireworks madness from the Mazu Festival. Don’t forget to take a look at previous posts detailing the origins of the Mazu Pilgrimage and images from the first 2 days of this years festival. Also, check out the complete gallery of Mazu images from which these few highlights are taken.

I’ll have another series of photos from the Mazu pilgrimage later in the week, so stay tuned.

Saturday April 5th saw the start of the 2008 Mazu Pilgrimage. Among the many gods and goddesses worshipped in Taiwan, Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea is perhaps the most revered. Every year, in the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, the Dajia Mazu, which is housed at the Zhenlan temple, is taken out on a pilgrimage lasting 8 days and covering 300km. Over the course of the 8 days, more than 1 million people will come out to see Mazu as she makes her way from Dajia to Hsingang in Jiayi county and back again, visiting more than 80 temples. It is thought that the Mazu pilgrimage is one of the three largest religious festivals in the world. Last year I wrote a detailed post describing the history of Mazu. Rather than rewrite it today, I’ll point you here for a look at the orgins of Mazu. This post will just be some images from the first 2 days of this years festival, with photos from Dajia’s Zhenlan Temple and Changhua’s Nan Yao Temple.

I’ll be posting more images over the next week as the pilgrimage takes place. In the meantime, the complete gallery can be seen at my www.craigfergusonimages.com

As another month comes to a close, it’s once again time for a look at events and goings on over the next few weeks. March was a busy month, and April is shaping up to be equally as busy, with a couple of major festivals taking place here in Taiwan.

Before we head into April, there’s a little bit left of March, so this Sunday the 30th get yourselves down to the main gate of NTU on Roosevelt and Xinsheng Rds, Taipei  at 3pm for Critical Mass.

There’s also an ongoing daily vigil for Tibet taking place at Freedom Square/Democracy Hall, formerly known as Chinag Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. A 49 hour hunger strike will  be undertaken from 3pm Friday the 28th until 4pm Sunday the 30th.

Moving into April, the annual Spring Scream Festival kicks off on Friday the 4th and runs until the 6th down in Kenting. More than 250 bands and DJs will be cranking out the tunes for your aural pleasure.

Also on the 4th, the Husan Tien Emperor Ritual will take place at Shuo Tien Temple in Songshan Village, Minchien township, Nantou.

Sticking with the religious theme, April (lunar March) is the time when Taiwan goes mad for Mazu (Matsu). Mazu’s birthday is on lunar March 23rd (April 28 this year) but the various festivals are held at different times through the month. The biggest of these is the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage. This is actually on the the biggest religious events in the world, with over 1 million participants. For some background, you can check out my report from last years festival. The 2008 Dajia pilgrimage begins on Saturday the 5th and makes its way on a 300km journey through Central Taiwan, finally returning to Dajia on Sunday the 13th. Definitely not one to miss. There are also other Mazu festivals taking place at Kungtien Temple, Tongshiao, Miaoli and a Floating Mazu Procession is held on Penghu.

April 7th (lunar March 2nd) sees the Wangchuan Ritual taking place at Suchu in Antin, Tainan. Wangchuan means “king boat” and this festival is a ritual burning on the boat. A 2km procession line forms along the banks of the Tsangwen River, culminating in the burning of the offering boat to allow the God to tour heaven.

In Jiayi on April 11th (lunar March 6th) the Swing Temple Fair will be held. Giant 12m high swings are erected at  Hsuan Tien Emperor Temple in Jiayi city and participants are able to swing themselves to get closer to heaven.

April 13th (lunar March 8th) is the date of the Chuwei Passing Over Fire Ritual.  Passing over the fire allows believers to cleanse themselves of demons and purge disasters. This festival is held at Chuwei, Taiyuan township, Taoyuan county.

Also on the 13th, Taoyuan Stadium plays host to this years Songkran Festival. Songkran is the Thai New Year, and with over 100 000 Thai workers living in Taiwan, it is a big event. The Taiwan blogospheres very own New Hampshire Bushman will be on stage playing guitar with one of the bands performing.  Many of the activities at Songkran are quite similar to those at Chinese New Year, with visiting temples, offering gifts and wearing new clothes all important aspects. Songkran is also referred to as the Water Festival, as it’s traditional to sprinkle fragrant water on people. This often turns into a full-blown water fight – great fun in the April heat.

April 16th (lunar March 11th) the Visit Baijiao festival is held in Tainan county. Worshippers pray and offer incense to King Bao Shan (Medicine God) to give thanks for safety and prosperity.

There’s another Bao shan festival as well, this time in Bao-an temple, Taipei.  This takes place on April 19 and 20 (lunar March 14/15) to celebrate Baoshan’s birthday. Taiwanese opera performances are a big part of the ritual.

Stepping away from temple festivals for a minute, April 20th is the date for a Reclaim the Streets event in Taipei. Details to follow.

Beginning on April 24 and running until May 2nd is the Urban Nomad film festival featuring experimental film/ video, animation, comedic shorts, political documentary, music documentary, skateboard/ surfing, gender, and internet shorts.

April 25th (lunar March 20) sees the Yi Hsiang festival in Tai Tien temple, Matou, Tainan. Worshippers gather into groups and go to the temple to invite the five highnesses (Li, Ci, Wu, Chu, and Fan) to make an inspection tour.

The weekend of April 26 and 27 sees a cosplay event taking place at NTU, Taipei. David Reid has a report and some photos from the last cosplay that was held there.

On April 30th, the Bunan tribe’s Ear Hitting Ritual takes place at Yenping in Taidong. This is the biggest and most important festival for this Aboriginal tribe, with feasts and rituals taking place.

Running throughout the whole month of April are a few flower festivals. Yangmingshan hosts the Yangmingshan Flower Festival, Alishan the Cherry Blossom Festival and in various parts of Miaoli have Tung Blossom festivals. Finally, theres the joint harvest festival in Kaohsiung county celebrated by the Rukuo tribe in Maolin, the Bunan tribe in Taoyuan (township in Kaohsiung, not Taoyuan city) and the Tsou at Sanmin.

As always, if you know of anything else going on during the month, drop me a line and I’ll add it in.

Among the many gods and goddesses worshipped in Taiwan, Mazu, the Goddess of the Sea is perhaps the most revered. Every year, in the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, the Dajia Mazu, which is housed at the Zhenlan temple, is taken out on a pilgrimage lasting 8 days and covering 300km.

Zhenlan temple, Dajia.

Over the course of the 8 days, more than 1 million people will come out to see Mazu as she makes her way from Dajia to Hsingang in Jiayi county and back again, visiting more than 80 temples. It is thought that the Mazu pilgrimage is one of the three largest religious festivals in the world.

Mazu the goddess was originally a woman named Lin Moniang who lived in Fujian, China during the early Song dynasty (960-1127). One day, a terrible typhoon arose while they were out at sea, and the rest of her family feared that those at sea had perished. In the midst of this storm, depending on the version of the legend, she either fell into a trance while praying for the lives of her father and brothers or dreamed of her father and brothers while she was sleeping. In either the trance or the dream, her father and brothers were drowning, and she reached out to them, holding her brothers up with her hands and her father up with her mouth. However, her mother now discovered her and tried to wake her, but she was in such a deep trance or dream that it seemed like she was dead. Her mother, already believing the rest of their family dead, now broke down, crying, believing that Lin Moniang had also just died. Hearing her mother’s cries, in pity, she gave a small cry to let her mother know she was alive, but in opening her mouth, she was forced to drop her father. Consequently, Lin Moniang’s brothers returned alive (sadly without their father) and told the other villagers that a miracle had happened and that they had somehow been held up in the water as a typhoon raged.

On the first day of the festival, thousands of people gather in Dajia to pray, offer insence and receive blessings.

Inside Zhenlan temple.

The streets around the temple are packed with various groups and devotees.

As is the courtyard in front of the Zhenlan temple, where fireworks add to the noise and spectacle.

The second day of the pilgrimage sees Mazu pass through Changhua (彰化) where she pays a visit to the Nanyao temple (南瑤宮). Before her arrival, officials at the temple prepare their own Mazu statue.

The pilgrims continue their march south over the next few days, before returning once again to Changhua, this time bound for the Tian Hou temple (天后宮), where more elaborate rituals are undertaken.

Mazu is welcomed back to Changhua with a nighttime parade through the streets, accompanied by noise, smoke, fireworks and thousands of people.

Along the way, people line up and prostrate waiting for Mazu’s palanquin to pass over them.

Violence is not uncommon, as groups from various temples compete to be the ones to carry the palanquin. Here is a minor scuffle that was quickly broken up by the police.

Mazu arrives at a temple in Changhua.

And finally, after 8 days and 300km, Mazu returns to Dajia, where another parade through the streets takes place, before returning home to the Zhenlan temple.

All images and text ©Craig Ferguson. Unauthorised use prohibited. Contact me if you wish to use any of the photos.