Drunk and dancing on a Friday morning

Coming from a somewhat sedate Singapore where, despite its rich multi-cultural make-up, religious and cultural celebrations are generally calm and controlled affairs, finding myself caught in one of the many colourful street celebrations that take place in the countries around is always an experience to remember. I was in Macau recently to catch not just one, but two of the larger celebrations that takes place on the streets of the former Portuguese colony around the month of May. The first, perhaps more of a calm and contemplative affair, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, takes place on 13 May every year. The second is celebrated with a drunken frenzy on the streets. That, the feast of the Drunken Dragon, takes place every year on the 8th day of the 4th Chinese lunar month which fell on 17 May this year.

The feast of the Drunken Dragon is celebrated with a drunken frenzy on the streets of Macau.

The Drunken Dragon Festival is definitely a spectacle for photographers.

The festival, Tchoi Long Chit (醉龍節 or 醉龙节) - as it is spelled in Cantonese in Macau, would have its roots in neighbouring Zhongshan, Guangdong Province where it is thought to have been celebrated since the Song Dynasty and may have been celebrated in Macau since the reign of Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty based on information at the website of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and is described in the following manner:

… a very strange festival if compared with the other major Chinese festivals. It dates from the misty past from the Kangxi Kingdom of the Qing Dynasty. Praying to the Buddha for help against a disastrous plague, villagers were carrying his statue when suddenly a giant python leaped out of the river on to the bank, blocking the way. A Buddhist monk slashed at the monster, cutting it into three pieces which were tossed into the river. 

The pieces writhed about and then, amid a great wind and thunder, they flew up into the sky. Miraculously, the people recovered from the plague and the turf which has been stained with the creature’s blood proved to be unusually fertile. Believing that they had been saved by a divine dragon, the people carved its image and at the annual festival when the Buddha is bathed they drank wildly and danced with the dragon.

The fishermen associations organize this festival, which start in the morning in the Kuan Tai Temple near S. Domingos Market (near Senado Square), where men perform a drunken dance with wooden heads and tails of a dragon. Then, they go on the direction of the Inner Harbour and pay a visit some shops and piers on the waterfront. At each stop they drink wine until they are not able to go on. All the participants and observers end the day with a great dinner.

Participants arriving at the Sam Kai Vui Kun Temple, the starting point of the street celebration.

Participants gather at the Kuan Tai Temple near Senado Square at around 8 in the morning.

Wooden head and tail sections of dragons lie in wait at the Kuan Tai Temple.

A monk blessing offerings at the Kuan Tai Temple.

The celebration in Macau of the ”strange” festival sees participants start with prayers and blessings at the Sam Kai Vui Kun or Kuan Tai Temple – about half an hour before a ceremony proper is held in a tent in Senado Square at 9 am. It is at the temple where participants collect the two dragon pieces in pairs – at which many are already visibly intoxicated, downing cans of beer and blowing mouthfuls of the liquid into the air – making for a spectacle best observed up close as both observers and jostling photographers (and their equipment) risk getting a splashing from the alcohol laden spray and mist that is propelled into the air.

The celebrations are best observed close-up but be prepared to jostle with the frenzy of photographers eager to capture the best shots at the risk of getting their equipment wet and sticky.

Prayers are also offered.

Participants collecting the dragon pieces.

The participants and their dragons seek blessings at the temple.

A participant offering a joss stick.

Participants downing cans of beer outside the Kuan Tai Temple.

And spray mouthfuls of it into the air.

The ceremony in Senado Square is one at which the participants are introduced before lion dance lions have their eyes dotted to bring them to life after which the participants perform a dance ritual in a prelude to the drunken journey through the streets.

Participants being introduced during the ceremony.

An introduction being made.

Red cloth is tied to the dragons.

Lion dance lions await the eye-dotting ceremony which brings them to life.

The eye-dotting ceremony.

A jar of wine and wooden dragons for the ritual dance before the participants set off.

Participants performing a dance ritual …

… before setting off …

At this point, the participants seem to already have difficulty keeping upright – that however does not stop them from getting organised before the journey through the cobblestone streets begins, the younger ones – some boys, lead the procession in a martial art inspired dance, wooden dragons in hand. Even on the move, the action does not stop – the men continue to down jars of wine, spraying some of the contents of the jars into the air. As they make their way, occasionally taking a wrong turn, they stop at shops where offerings placed on stools are left at the entrances, moving the dragons in a way that made it appear that they were greedily devouring what was left on the stools. The dragons enter the shops before continuing on their way – a dancing lion dance takes the place vacated as firecrackers are lit as those in the crowd put their hands over their ears in anticipation.

Even in a state of drunkennesssome organising has to be done.

The participants set off …

A drummer accompanies the participants.

The procession of participants in martial art inspired dance makes its way through the narrow streets off Senado Square.

Stopping along at shops along the way outside which offerings are made.

A lion dance follows the participants.

I follow for a distance, reeking of not just of the sticky alcoholic residue a deposit of which was left on my skin, clothes and equipment but also of the mix of perspiration and rain which fell earlier that I was completely drenched in. After some three quarters of an hour running after the drunken men I decided to break away. Despite the sticky mess my equipment and I were in, I would have most willingly continued if it wasn’t for a gluttony motivated bus ride I wanted to make to Fernando’s in Hac Sa Beach in Coloane – after which the Tam Kong Festival celebrations in Coloane Village beckoned. The very unique way in which the festival is celebrated must count as one of my more memorable experiences and one which I certainly am thankful to have remained sober enough to have been able to observe.

Mixed with the crowd of curious tourists and photographers are many locals who line the streets to observe the procession.

Information on the festival and its origins:

Drunken Dance (about the origins of the festival in Zhongshan)

Feast of Drunken Dragon (China Central Television – CCTV video report)

MGTO Calendar of Events

The Silver Chariot returns

A set of photographs taken stop points along the procession route of the Silver Chariot. The procession takes place on the eve of the festival of Hindu festival of Panguni Uthiram which is celebrated on the full moon of the Tamil month of Panguni. Since 1967, a kavadi procession, similar to that during the more well known Thaipusam festival, has taken place in the Sembawang area, organised by the Holy Tree Sri Balasubramaniar Temple. The temple was original established in the Naval Base off Canberra Road and moved to its current location at Yishun Industrial Park A in 1996. The chariot is a representation of the chariot in which Lord Murugan or Lord Balasubramaniar is believed to use on his annual visit to his devotees on Earth. The procession this year takes place along a new route starting at a vacant plot of land off Canberra Lane / Canberra Drive. Photographs of the preparations for kavadi bearers from the previous years as well as more information on the festival can be found on two of my previous posts: A lesser known Hindu festival with a Kavadi procession: Panguni Uthiram (2011) and The sun rises on a Sembawang tradition.

A annual walk of faith

Thaipusam is perhaps the most colourful of the religious and cultural traditions brought in by the early immigrants to modern Singapore that is today celebrated on the streets of Singapore. Celebrated by Tamils from southern India during the full moon of the Tamil month of Thai, the festival in Singapore is notable for the 4 kilometre procession over which devotees carry a “burden”, in the form of a kavadi. The procession which starts from the Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple along Serangoon Road and ends at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple (Chettairs’ Temple) at Tank Road sees hundreds of devotees every year making their way along the route carrying kavadis which range from milk pots placed on their heads to more elaborate kavadis such as spike kavadis and chariot kavadis. The spike (or “vel”) kavadis is perhaps the most elaborate and involves the piercing of up to 108 spikes onto the body. The chariot kavadis involves the attachment of hooks to the backs of bearers which is attached to ropes pulling a chariot. Devotees often also have other piercings carried out including with skewers through the tongue and cheeks with holy ash applied to the area before hand. The piercings are said to inflict no pain as well as leave no scars (no blood is spilled as well) – devotees go through a 48 day spiritual cleansing prior to Thaipusam – which involves a strict regime of fasting, abstinence, and prayer. More information on the festival can be found at the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple’s website.

Photographs from Thaipusam 2013

(Black and Whites)

(In Colour)

 

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Photographs from previous years’ Thaipusam observations:

Thaipusam (2012)
Thaipusam (2011)
Thaipusam (2010)

A similar festival celebrated in the Tamil month of Panguni in the Sembawang area:

Panguni Uthiram (2012)
Panguni Uthiram (2011)

Thaipusam at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple

Having photographed the procession of Kavadis on the streets over the last two Thaipusam celebrations in Singapore, as well as with Thaipusam falling on a work day this year, I decided to set off early this year to take a look at the preparations of the Kavadi bearers at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road at the break of day. The colourful Hindu festival during which ‘Kavadis‘ or burdens, some which involve piercing of various parts of the body, are borne by devotees, is one which captivated me as a child and one that still contiunes to fascinate me to this day. It can possibly be considered to be the last authentic religious festival that is still enacted on the streets in Singapore – albeit with some restrictions which give it less of an atmosphere than celebrations that take place in our northern neighbour Malaysia.