Ryan and his sister Susan are looking forward to selling their vegetarian Indian mee goreng during the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.
THE Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Penang this time is going green.
Devotees are urged to adopt environmentally conscious habits during the festival that starts tomorrow until Oct 11.
Eliminating plastic straws, a common yet harmful item with far-reaching environmental impact, will be one of the moves.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) public health and licensing sub-committee alternate chairman Tan Soo Siang said this initiative would be the perfect opportunity to align the festival with a broader environmental cause.
“The ban on plastic straws has been made a licensing requirement for hawkers.
“Also, last year we focused on raising awareness, and this year we will be enforcing the ban.”
Tan added that in addition to banning plastic straws, hawkers were also required to have their own dustbins and ensure waste would be properly managed during the festival.
Jelutong Tow Boh Keong Temple members getting the boat ready for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival. — Courtesy photo
“Hawkers are being encouraged to adopt even more sustainable practices. We are urging them to use ewallet payment systems to reduce paper, and asking customers to bring their own containers for takeaways.
“These measures reflect the council’s commitment to reducing the festival’s environmental footprint and fostering a culture of sustainability among vendors and attendees,” she said in a press conference.
Tan said MBPP was expected to issue over 100 temporary hawker licences for the festival, with strict conditions such as ensuring that their stalls did not obstruct traffic.
Tan showing the temporary permit application form for roadside traders for the Nine Emperor Gods festival.
“As Penang continues to champion green initiatives, this year’s Nine Emperor Gods Festival will serve as an example of how traditional celebrations can evolve to meet the demands of modern environmental challenges.
“The hope is that the festival’s focus on sustainability will inspire other large-scale events in Penang to follow suit, and by making small changes, such as reducing reliance on plastic straws, we can collectively make a big difference for our environment.
“The festival has always been about purification. This year we extend that idea to include purifying our habits for the sake of the planet,” she added.
Khoo hanging a lantern at the Nine Emperor Gods Temple on Cheong Fatt Tze Road in preparation for the festival. — Photos: CHAN BOON KAI and BERNARD SEE/The Star
Tradition and devotion
The Nine Emperor Gods Festival, popularly known as Kew Ong Yeah in Penang Hokkien, begins on the first day of the ninth lunar month.
During this period, devotees observe a strict vegetarian diet for nine to 10 days.
Makeshift stalls selling an array of vegetarian dishes and prayer items will be decorated with yellow flags and bunting for devotees to identify them easily.
An array of vegetarian cakes, biscuits, muffins, dumplings, crackers, tau sar pneah, doughnuts, ham chim peng and koh wah are also available for purchase.
Many hawkers will also operate round-the-clock to cater to devotees during the celebration.
A devotee praying at the Tow Boh Keong Temple on Cheong Fatt Tze Road, one of the temples that observe the celebration on a grand scale.
Hawker B. Ryan, 27, is looking forward to selling his vegetarian Indian fried noodles for the second time in Jalan Perak.
“My sister, mother and I used to sell in Fettes Park, but since last year we have been selling here and business has been good.
“During these nine days, I will not sell at my usual spot in Jalan Mount Erskine,” he said.
At the Tow Boh Keong Temple in Cheong Fatt Tze Road (formerly Hong Kong Street), the committee is ready to receive thousands of devotees for the grand celebration.
The temple, renowned for being the pioneer in the region to observe the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, has been attracting devotees from across the globe for close to 145 years.
Every year, devotees flock to here to offer incense and prayers.
They will also take part in a sacred practice that defines the festival such as observing a vegetarian diet for nine days.
Temple trustee Khoo Khay Hock said during the festival, believers would embrace a period of spiritual cleansing by abstaining from meat and adhering to a strict vegetarian diet.
“This act of devotion is more than a ritual; it is a form of self-purification believed to bring peace, prosperity, and protection from illness.
A Tow Boh Keong Temple committee member getting silver spears ready for devotees.
“The vegetarian diet symbolises harmony and purity, and these meals are offered to both devotees and the gods themselves,” he said when met at the temple.
Khoo said the origins of this revered practice dated back over two centuries when sailors from Fujian, China, first brought the Nine Emperor Gods belief to Penang.
“These sailors were led by my ancestor Khoo Mah Chen (1784-1841), a youth from the Xinjiang community in Haicheng County, China who arrived in Penang as a 19-year-old in 1803, and worked as a coolie.
“When the state was hit by a plague, he advised his countrymen to adopt a vegetarian diet and keep themselves clean. Shortly after, a small temple was built in 1803 in Weld Quay.
“Over the years, the temple moved to Cannon Street and then Malay Street before settling in its present location back in 1881,” he said.
Contrary to talks that the festival originated from Phuket, Thailand, historical accounts have confirmed that Penang was the earliest source of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in the region, long before it spread to southern Thailand.
Khoo added that the temple committee had been celebrating the festival without fail except for the two years when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
A Tow Boh Keong Temple member painting a rack in preparation for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival in Cheong Fatt Tze Road.
“As the festival expanded, particularly through Chinese immigrants who later moved to Thailand for work, the tradition of vegetarianism during the Nine Emperor Gods celebration was maintained.
“Southern Thailand eventually adopted the annual festival, but Penang’s Tow Boh Keong Temple remained at the heart of this practice.
“We are also offering free vegetarian food throughout the day to devotees at the temple throughout the nine days,” he said.
Khoo, who is the temple’s sixth generation custodian, said beyond the vegetarian offerings, one of the most captivating aspects of the festival was the worship of the Black Tiger General, a guardian deity unique to the temple.
“Believers revere this sacred figure for its ability to protect the temple, ward off evil, and bring wealth.
“Interestingly, while tigers are typically depicted as fierce carnivores, the Black Tiger General at the temple is offered only vegetarian food, reinforcing the festival’s emphasis on purity and spiritual discipline,” added Khoo.
A grand float procession will take place on the ninth and final day (Oct 11), during which about 20 devotees would pierce their cheeks with silver spears, he said.
Khoo said only those with the deepest religious devotion could perform this without suffering serious injuries or scarring.
“This ritual is typically conducted following a period of intense prayer and abstinence from meat, which strengthens their faith.
“This faith, in turn, induces a trance-like state that shields the devotee from physical pain and excessive bleeding during the ceremony,” he explained.
On that day, he said the statues of the Nine Emperor Gods would be placed on a boat and set adrift, symbolising their return to the heavens.
Other Nine Emperor Gods temples in Penang, namely the ones on Jalan Raja Uda in Butterworth, and Gat Lebuh Macallum and Burmah Road in George Town, will also hold prayer ceremonies and serve vegetarian food daily.
The festival is said to be dedicated to the nine sons of Tou Mu, the Goddess of the North Star, who is believed to control the Books of Life and Death.
Her sons, deified as ren huang (human sovereigns), are said to have the ability to cure illnesses and bless devotees with luck, wealth and longevity.
It has also been observed that rain always falls a day or two before the festival begins. It is perhaps a symbolic welcome for the gods who are believed to arrive via sea or river.
That is also why the procession to welcome the gods to shore on the first day and send them ‘home’ on the ninth day, starts from the temple grounds and move towards any waterway to mark this belief.
Volunteers giving a good scrub and wash to the floor of the Arulmigu Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Queen Street in preparation for the Navarathiri festival.
Navarathiri
During the same period, the Hindu community will celebrate Navarathiri, a festival dedicated to three Hindu goddesses – Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi.
Derived from the Sanskrit words nava (meaning nine) and rathiri (meaning night), the festival spans nine nights, during which devotees pray to the goddesses and observe a strict vegetarian diet.
According to Hindu Puranic texts, Navarathiri commemorates the goddesses’ triumph over the demon king Mahishasuran, symbolising the victory of good over evil.
The first three days of the festival are dedicated to Durga, the Goddess of Bravery, followed by three days in honour of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth, and concluding with three days for Saraswathi, the Goddess of Knowledge.
On the 10th day, known as Vijayadashami or Dussehra, all three goddesses unite to defeat Mahishasuran, marking the festival’s climax and celebrating the ultimate triumph of good over evil.
