| TANKI | |
The Ancient Gods, Rituals and Spirit-Mediumship of Folk
Taoism in Modern Singapore |
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The Inauguration Ceremony of
Jiutiaoqiao Xinba Nadugong Temple, Tampines
Taoist,
Malay and Hindu Gods Under A Single Roof
–
A Bizarre Celebration of Religious Diversity in Singapore
九
条 桥 新 笆 拿 督 坛
众神晋宫升座大典
10 October 2004
(To read Chinese characters, select UNICODE under View -
Encoding menu of browser)
Today I attended a most
extraordinary ceremony that can only occur in an ethnic melting pot like
Singapore - the inauguration ceremony of a suburban Taoist temple known as the
Jiutiaoqiao Xinba Nadugong Temple. This
is a temple that worships three deities, each representing a
deity of the three major ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays and Indians) in
Singapore, and whose grand ceremony was celebrated by worshippers from two major
faiths (Taoism and Hinduism).
The ceremony banner showing the three deities worshipped in
this temple, which also represent the three major ethnic groups of
Singapore. From left to right: Ganesha (Indian), Nadugong/Natoh Gong
(Malay), Dabogong/Tua Peh Gong (Chinese)
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Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god, which is also worshipped
here.
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Chinese-Hindus getting pierced Hindu-Thaipusam style
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A Chinese Hindu carrying the kivadi
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The huge "Da Tou Wa Wa" (literally "Huge Head
Dolls") dancing and paying respect to the gods. Mediums possessed
by deities wore these enormous costume sets danced along to the ritual
music.
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Close-up of a "doll"
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A medium waiting for his turn...
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Mediums in possession. Typical "I'm
possessed" posture
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What is the Nadugong (拿督公)?
When the early Chinese
immigrants first arrived in Southeast Asia in the 15th century, they
brought along their Taoist gods and deities to these lands.
They
also realized that to ensure security and prosperity in this foreign land of
strange gods and unknown religions, they have to enlist the help of the local
gods. “In Rome, do as the Romans
do”. And so they began
worshipping the local gods alongside their own from China.
The Southeast Asia they arrived
in was one of polytheistic religions. The
earlier Indian traders brought Hinduism and Buddhism, which combined with the
local animistic beliefs. Although
Islam, the monotheistic religion, first arrived in the
700’s from the Middle East, it did not spread fast until a series of
jihads in Java as well as through trade in the 15th century.
Even then, the inhabitants of
the Southeast Asian islands and Malay Peninsula retained many of their original
animistic and Hindu beliefs. The
Chinese immigrants began to worship local pre-Islamic holy men, commonly called
Datuk or Dato, meaning “chief” or “lord” in the Malay language, which
soon became
known as “Natoh” (or “Nadu” in standard Mandarin).
The suffix “gong” which means “lord” in Chinese was added to “Nadu”,
and hence “Nadugong”, the amazing Chinese-Malay deity which is found only in
Singapore, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia.
In local Chinese religious
iconology, the Nadugong is commonly represented by a Malay man dressed in traditional yellow silky
Malay shirt and sarong, wearing a formal songkok (hat).
Kris (Malay sword) and other traditional Malay court regalia and
ceremonial objects would also be placed on the altar, sometimes with images of
Islamic holy sites such as the Kabaa of Mecca.
Nadugong temples are found across the region, sometimes next to traditional Malay sacred sites where older Malays visit
and pray, although it is highly debatable whether these shrines – either the
Nadugong or the Malay sacred sites – are really Islamic in any way.
Younger Malays, who are more exposed to a global, purist Islam, tend to
shy away from such places.
The Jiutiaoqiao Xinba
Nadugong Temple
According to Victor Yue’s
translation (with some of my additions) of an article from the Shin Ming Daily:
This temple, with a history of
77 years, was originally in Ang Mo Kio, where there were nine bridges, hence,
Jiutiaoqiao 九条桥 (Nine Bridges), where Tua Pek Kong (Dabogong 大伯公
– a local Taoist deity) and Natoh Gong (Na Du Gong 拿督公)
were worshipped. [Xinba
means “new district”]. From the old temple, they moved to the new place at
Old
Tampines
Road. To
celebrate racial harmony, Ganesha (the Hindu Elephant God) was included as one
of the three main deities to be worshipped in this temple,
as a symbol of racial harmony. Twelve decorated Christmas
trees would be included.
This young medium is getting possessed - he's gyrating his
head wildly
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Possessed!
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Once possessed, the medium (Dark Face Third Prince - Hei
Mian Tai Zhi 黑面太子) assistants helped him to get dressed in
the full regalia of his deity
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Waiting...
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Female medium gyrating wildly upon possessed
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Get pretty
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Yes, the god is here too!
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More possessions
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The Ceremony
The ceremonies started on
Wednesday 6 October 2004, with the bathing of the Ganesha statue with milk,
which I didn’t attend. I
understand there were also various Taoist rituals conducted by priests specially
invited from Fujian, China over the following few days and various charity
events organized for fund raising for homes for the elderly.
The main ceremony was on Sunday
10 October 2004. I have been told
that 60 spirit mediums (more about spirit mediums at http://weecheng.com/singapore/tanki/story2.htm)
from other temples across Singapore would participate in the ceremony.
Most folk Taoist ceremonies in Singapore typically include spirit mediums
from other temples visiting, getting possessed by their own deities, and paying
respect to the temple’s main deities on behalf of their deities, then move on
to visit other major temples. Many
temples have only one medium while some may have a few more.
So this ceremony could well have, say, 30 to 40 temples involved, which is an
indication of the funding and influence of this temple. What
was equally amazing was the degree of diverse cultural and religious mix that
the ceremony involved.
When I arrived at 9:30am in the
morning, the whole place was already crowded with hundreds if not thousands of
worshippers. Loud Indian drumbeats,
Chinese gongs and Taoist ritual music blaring out from loudspeakers – what a weird
combination. I walked to the Indian
corner of the main tentage. There
were a number of Indian altar and statues of various Indian gods (including Durga and Ganesha), surrounded
by Indian as well as Chinese worshippers.
The monkey god is ready!
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Female medium (Goddess of the Ninth Heaven
九天玄女) in front of the altar
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The statues of the Jade Emperor and his heavenly advisors
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Medium (Er Lang Shen - 二郎神) paying respect to the Jade Emperor
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Female medium paying respect to the Hindu goddess
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The Ma Zhu (Empress of the Heavenly Mother -
妈祖 - 天后娘娘) in full regalia - magnificent, isn't it?
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A young monkey god hopping and gesturing on his dragon chair
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The monkey god bowing to the statue of the Hindu goddess
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About six Chinese men
were being pierced with huge spikes of kivadis they would soon carry
as a sacrificial gesture of piety, helped by Indian worshippers and
priests. Kivadis are huge metal
cages holding
imagery of Hindu gods during Hindu festivals such as Thaipusam, supported by sharp spikes weighing down on
the devotees carrying them. An
Indian religious band was beating the drums and an Indian lady medium was
dancing wildly to the beat, accompanied by a few Chinese women whirling around
in sarees! The latter appeared to
be possessed as well, sticking out their tongues, painted bloody red, perhaps
like the ferocious goddess Kali, Goddess of Dissolution and Destruction.
One of them was chewing away handfuls of neem
leaves, which are supposedly good for curing skin aliments. A steady flow
of Indian worshippers were arriving along with some Taoist worshippers, and all
prayed to the various deities.
As the Chinese gongs beat
faster, I rushed to the Chinese side of the tentage – there were about nine
giant “huge head dolls” or Da Tou Wa Wa, dancing around, bowing to the
statues of various gods. I have
been told that these were actually Taiwanese ritual characters that have become
more common in Singapore Taoist rituals in recent years. Some say within these “dolls” were
mediums who were in trance, possessed by their own gods, and were participating
in the ceremonies under the command of their gods. Amazing stuff!
Then the long possession session
for visiting mediums began. In
groups of three
to five, the mediums sat in the “dragon chairs” and became possessed.
[See http://weecheng.com/singapore/tanki/story4.htm]
They would then bowed and prayed to the Taoist
gods and deities at separate altars in the tentage before heading for the
Indian side to pay respect to the Hindu gods. As there were many mediums involved, it was about two hours
before every medium had their turn.
It was an amazing session, as
the mediums were possessed by the many gods and deities on the Taoist pantheon
– much more than a typical Taoist ceremony seen elsewhere.
Apart from the more common Monkey God (齐天大圣),
Hei Bai Wu Chang (Tua Li Yeh Bo ; 大爷伯 &
二爷伯), Third Prince (莲花三太子)
and Shan Chai Tong Zi (善才童子) , I also spotted
Justice Bao, Guan Gong (关圣帝君) and many more deities
I could not identify. The costumes
and rituals were spectacular - I am amazed that the mainstream
media in Singapore did not report the event at all and I bet the Tourism Board
was not aware
of all these happening, even though thousands of Singaporeans and many temple
organisations were involved.
One particularly unusual
possession ceremony involved two young men representing Ri Xun and Ye Xun (日夜巡),
two deities of the Nether World - started by
lying down on grass mat, with their heads on stacks of Chinese “hell notes”
as though they were dead. As the
gongs and cymbals beat louder, they began shaking slowly and then gradually
getting wilder. Before long, they
were rocking wildly and eventually standing up with their deities in control.
Facial art: When a medium's face is painted, he is not
merely trying to look like the deity he represents, his body is taken over by
the god himself, who has to ensure that the body he takes over does look like
him. This medium is Lei Zhen Zi - Thunder God (雷震子)
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Another medium in the regalia of Cheng Huang -Resident
Nether God of the Host Temple (城隍爷)
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One of the many young mediums at this ceremony
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Yet another young medium (Nai He Tong Zi -
奈河童子)
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Mediums representing Ri Xun & Ye Xun (Day and Night
Patrolling Officers of the Nether World - 日夜巡) - they
lie down like dead people to wait for these Hell deities to possess them
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They "turned alive" and rock wildly as the twin
Tua Li Yeh Bo deities possessed them
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A deity being carried around
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The kivadi carriers getting ready for the temple runs
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At about 1pm, everyone was
leaving. The mediums and their drum
troupes in various lorries, Taoist flags fluttering away, and their followers
getting into 40 coaches. The whole
convoy set off for Hao Lin Gong Temple (木豪林宫) in Ang Mo Kio, another suburban town more
than 15km away.
Then the whole process repeated.
The Taoist mediums and the Hindu entourage formed a long line and marched
into the temple group by group, greeted by the resident mediums.
An interesting process of mutual greeting and ritual dances took place,
and the visiting mediums bowing and paying respect to the main deities of this
temple. Thousands of nearby
residents watched the ceremony with curiosity, many snapping away with their
digital or cell phone cameras, not to mention thousands of devotees who have
followed the whole procession from Tampines.
At this point, I decided to call it a day.
The procession would move on to temples in Upper Serangoon, Hougang,
Sengang, Pasir Ris and then back to the initial site at Tampines.
There would be ritual fire-walking and fireworks in the evening, followed
by more rituals. At an auspicious
hour close to 11pm, the temple will be declared open, with a few TV stars
gracing the ceremony too!
[Thanks
to Andi for helping me to identify the deities here and correct my earlier
mistakes!]
Statues of the Hindu gods being carried around - now in Ang
Mo Kio
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The resident mediums at the Ang Mo Kio Hao Lin Gong Temple
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Some female Chinese-Hindu mediums - wearing sari and
sticking their tongues out
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The Hindu goddess leaving Hao Lin Gong Temple
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Buy these books!
Tan Wee Cheng, Singapore 
weecheng.com 
