One of the most important festival in Johor Bahru is Chingay parade. The annual Chingay street parade has been an annual tradition to march around Johor Bharu since the 1800’s. This spectacular event also known as the ‘Parade of the Deities’ is now a major cultural and tourist attraction with over 300,000 visitors. The Chingay parade can take up to few hours as spectators are treated to the most vibrant display of lion dancers, dragon dancers, many different bands and much, much more. This is a beautiful festival and parade to experience at a wonderful time of the year to be in Malaysia.
The Chingay parade in Johor are held annually by the Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple on the 21st day of the first month of the Lunar New Year since the 1870. It is joined by the five main clans in the state, which are Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, Hoklo and Teochew.
What happens when Chingay in Johor Bahru?
LIGHTING CEREMONY – To mark the beginning of the Chingay parade ritual called the Lighting ceremony. Generally Johor Old Temple would be the main centre of the celebrations but it is simply not big enough to accommodate all the devotees and worshippers and therefore a temporary shrine, called Xin Gong at Jalan Ulu Ayer Molek. The opening of Chingay parade by key officials is accompanied by traditional performances, loud and banging firecrackers and fireworks sounding like a combination of machine-gun noises and rocket launchers.
CLEANSING CEREMONY – On the second day of Chingay parade, the main streets of Johor Bahru are cleansed by a symbolic washing ceremony to prepare the route for deities, who will undertake their annual journey around the city. Devotees dressed in red, will march along the 10km route and using pomelo or lemon tree leaves, sprinkle the streets with water soaked in the mixture of raw rice, salt and tea leaves. The procession is accompanied by loud beating of gongs, cymbals and drums. Call it mystics or not, it has been observed for years that the street cleansing ceremony triggers rainfall, which will properly wash the streets.
MOUNTING OF DEITIES ON SEDANS – After cleansing, it’s time to prepare the temple deities for their annual journey around Johor Bahru via sedan chairs(heavy structure they carry the gods in). Home to the five deities, each associated with the five main Chinese clans, namely, Zhao Da Yuan Shuai (Hainan), Hua Guang Da Di (Kwong Siew), Gan Tian Da Di (Hakka), Hong Xian Da Di (Hokkien), and Yuan Tian Shang Di (Teochew).
PRELUDE PARADE & DEITIES’ FIRST COMING OUT – One day before the Chingay parade procession, the deities are taken by worshippers (with designated t-shirts from 5 Chinese clans) from the Old Temple to Xing Gong, a temporary shrine built to accommodate large crowds. Carrying the deities is an honourable task, and everyone tries to be as closer to the gods as possible. The scene of Chingay parade resembles more the Storming of the Bastille than a peaceful religious ceremony. With “Heng-ah” and “Huat-ah”, the sedans are violently rocked to the great delight of the public.
Besides, you can also see the devotees rocking the sedan chairs wildly every now on Chingay parade. The only god that is not being rocked is Yuan Tian Shang Di, which is the God of the Northern Heaven and principal deity at the JB Old Temple. His sedan will always be held in the highest regard. Every god is welcomed at the Xin Gong with lots of celebrations and then they stay there for the night so that the devotees and worshippers can see them. There are also some performances and other celebrations held at Xin Gong.
CHINGAY NIGHT PARADE – The next day, being the 21st day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Chingay Parade is being held in the evening. A large crowd has gathered at the temporary shrine a few hours before the event. Everyone is here, including dragon dancers and giant dolls. Accompanied by floats, dragon/lion dancers and music, the devotees continue to carry their deities on their annual tour of the city via a 10km long route, which takes about 7 hours to complete.
Chingay parade starts at Xin Gong and goes through the main streets of the city and back to Xin Gong. In between they stop at pivotal points of which the Grand Stand along the street Jalan Wong Ah Fook (usually they arrive around 9, 10pm) is the highlight of the night. Members of the Royal Family and other VIP’s are set up on a stage and greet the deities, floats and worshippers. Almost every time they stop at the main points, gods are being rocked and the lion and dragon dancers usually do a dance performance. Huge crowds line up along the entire procession road waiting for the sedans to pass. Every time the deity passes by, people clasp their palms in prayer. From now and then, gods are rocked to light up their mood equally raising the mood of the crowd.
THE FINALE – The Chingay parade which deities’ annual tour of the city is over, and the next day, the devotees take them back via a Chingay parade to the Old Temple at noon. Similar to their coming out, the return of the deities is a major event attracting huge crowds. Once the deities are returned to the Old Temple, the Johor Bahru Chinese residents can finally sleep in peace – the Chinese New Year is officially over.
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