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.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan