The Chinese Navratri

Anu praying to the Nine Emperor Gods, Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia… The nice thing about Hindus, is that they’d pray to any god, ...serene or scary-looking. To them, gods are gods. The more, the merrier. Om Namah Shivay…

Here goes. It’s Durga Puja this weekend, Anu’s (and eastern India’s) biggest festival. All over eastern and north-eastern India, there’ll be ‘pandals’ (make-shift pavilions) erected, with the goddess Durga as the centre-piece, stepping on, or killing a buffalo-demon. Elsewhere in India (northern India, mainly), it’s celebrated as Dussehra, which culminates in the burning of a huge effigy of Ravana (the main villain in the Ramayana story). They’re basically all celebrating the triumph of good over evil. The nine days leading to these big celebrations is Navratri (meaning “nine nights”, duh), which have rituals, prayers, and such, related to each day, depending on which tradition you’re following.

But interestingly, Navratri isn’t venerated only by the Hindus. The Taoists in South East Asia, have their own celebrations, which coincide with Navratri. It’s the Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods. It’s a mystical Taoist festival celebrated mainly by the overseas Chinese in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, featuring road processions, trances, cheek-piercing, tongue piercing, fire-walking, and all sorts of self-mutilation, no joke. Now you know why it’s not popular in China. (D’ya think those communists there will be OK with all that gory, supernatural stuff? They just don’t know how to have fun, haha!) By the way, this was my favourite festival when I was a kid growing up in Ipoh! My mom would take me and my younger brother to town, to the upper story of a shop house (near where mom works), next to a busy junction where the procession would pass through. We’d see men with long spears pierced through their cheeks, rocking god chariots carried by crazed men (who were apparently in a trance) guided by a spirit guide carrying a reed hand fan, and stuff like that. Cool, huh?

Temples that host the Nine Emperor Gods Festivals in Malaysia and Singapore are usually named “Tow Boo Keong.” And for some reason not known to me, there’re TWO of ‘em in Butterworth town itself, not far from one another. (If you do know why there’s 2, lemme know, OK?) Anyway, here’re the photos. Of both of ‘em! Happy Festival! Happy Durga Puja! Happy Dussehra! Happy Dashain!


Tow Boo Keong Temple, Butterworth, Malaysia, on a quiet day. It was July 2022. The Nine Emperor Gods Festival usually takes place in October, on the first nine days of the ninth month of the Chinese calendar…


Mommy and kids, at the Tow Boo Keong Temple. Wow, there sure are a lot of lanterns. Can we have one or two, to take home??


Tow Boo Keong in Chinese pinyin is Dòu Mǔ Gōng, the palace of Doumu, the mother of the nine emperor gods. Yeah, they have a mother, like you and me! What about that scary dragon (middle, bottom), with the golden card (with our surname embossed on it?) Don’t ask me man, I have no idea! Can you spot Doumu? Through the doorway immediately above the scary dragon?


The idol of Doumu, up close. Doumu is the mother of the Big Dipper constellation of stars. And so, the nine emperor gods are actually the stars that make up the Big Dipper, seven visible stars and two invisible one (or so, sez Google)


A pagoda in the Tow Boo Keong temple


One last photo, before we move on to the second Nine Emperor Gods Temple nearby


The Nine Emperor Gods Temple, Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia


The sign in Chinese on the temple reads Dòu Mǔ Gōng 斗母宫 (in small) and a large Yù Zhǐ 玉旨 (Jade Edict) in large


No, you don’t wanna mess with me!


The Nine Star Lords of Chinese Mythology. Move over, Guardians of the Galaxy… We are nine, with a scary dragon as companion, a horde of deities and an all-powerful mother! Beat that!


The dragon pillar and the pond of carps! (Don’t ask me what they symbolize). But the kids love feeding the koi, as kids do. (Maybe, that’s what it’s for… some income from the fish food… but again, I don’t think so, because how much money would they make from some measly fish food?) (Do they eat the carps? I don’t think so either. The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is a vegetarian festival, no meat for nine days for devotees. See, I told you, it’s like the Hindu Navratri!)




Night time at the Temple of the Nine Emperor Gods, Butterworth, Malaysia, July 2022


Mommy and kids paying one last respect to the Goddess Doumu before we go…

See ya! Happy celebrations everyone! Be happy, stay safe, stay kind, stay hopeful. God bless!