Record numbers of Mazu devotees are making their way to central Taiwan in readiness for the goddess of the sea’s annual pilgrimage, commencing at midnight March 23 in Taichung City.
Setting out from Jennlann Temple, the procession passes through the counties of Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi before wrapping up April 1 at Feng Tian Temple. The 340-kilometer journey includes stops at around 100 shrines and is the highlight of Taichung’s Mazu International Festival.
According to organizers, over 2 million worshippers from across the island and abroad are expected to walk with the deity during the nine-day event.
Lin Mao-hsien, a professor of Taiwan culture at National Taichung University of Education, said Mazu pilgrims show more altruism than religious piety when they “walk the walk.”
“It is not uncommon to see people open up their homes and provide food to complete strangers out of sheer good will,” he added.
This year’s pilgrimage will boast a high-tech edge via an application developed by Taichung-based Feng Chia University. The app features GPS technology allowing devotees to keep track of the event in real time over the Internet.
The history of the procession in Taiwan dates back to the late 18th century when worshippers took a Mazu statue across the strait every 12 years to the goddess of the sea’s hometown on Meizhou Island. The route was later changed as a result of cross-strait tensions to tour temples in central Taiwan.
In 2004, U.S.-headquartered Discovery Channel identified the event as one of the world’s three major religious festivals, along with the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of every Muslim who can afford it, and the Hindu rite of bathing in the Ganges River.
UNESCO included Mazu beliefs and customs on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. (JSM)
Write to Kwangyin Liu at kwangyin.liu@mail.gio.gov.tw