The annual Dajia Matsu pilgrimage (大甲媽祖遶境) headed off on its nine-day and about 340km journey on foot at 11pm on Friday, with more than 100,000 people attending the departure event at the Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Greater Taichung’s Dajia (大甲).
Amid the deafening sounds of drums, gongs, trumpets and firecrackers, and surrounded by a huge crowd of followers who poured into the small town as early as Tuesday, the Dajia Matsu pilgrimage — one of the nation’s biggest annual religious rites — took more than half an hour to depart from the temple’s courtyard.
A number of political figures — including President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), vice president-elect Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) — attended the departure event on Friday as Jenn Lann Temple president Yen Chin-piao (顏清標) announced the start of the pilgrimage.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
The temple’s administration estimated that more than a million people would participate in the pilgrimage this year.
The procession is set to travel on a fixed route from Dajia, traveling through Changhua and Yunlin counties, making brief stops at 111 temples in 21 townships before reaching its final destination — Fengtien Temple (奉天宮) in Chiayi County’s Singang Township (新港) — on Tuesday next week.
After attending a birthday celebration event for Matsu at Fengtien Temple, which will last about a day, the Matsu palanquin will once again take to the road at midnight, with a series of religious performance troupes taking the lead on its trip back to Dajia.
Photo: Chan Chao-yang, Taipei Times
In recent years, the pilgrimage has become a famous cultural tourism event, attracting visitors from across the country and from overseas, and has also been offering many business opportunities from selling Matsu cultural merchandise.
A special feature this year is that Jenn Lann Temple has provided an Internet service (mazu.gis.tw) teamed with a geographic information system, enabling people to get instant information on where the Matsu palanquin is, as well as providing access to photographs taken along the way.
The pilgrimage procession reached Changhua County at 2pm yesterday, about two hours later than scheduled, because there were too many followers lying on the road along the Matsu palanquin’s route, waiting for the palanquin to be lifted over their body — believing that it would bring good luck and fortune.
Changhua County has mobilized up to 800 police officers to control traffic and ensure the safety of followers along the procession route.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu, front, grabs the pennant in a dragon boat race hosted by Qu Yuan Temple in the Shuanghsi River in Taipei’s Beitou District yesterday.