Few religious festivals around the world can match the annual procession to honor Matsu, the Chinese goddess of the sea, which starts on Friday evening at the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple (大甲鎮瀾宮) in Taichung.
Attendees are set to traverse Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi counties on a 330km journey that is scheduled to end on Sunday next week, when they return to the Taichung temple.
The annual event has been said by the Discovery Channel to be one of the biggest religious festivals in the world, along with the hajj — the annual pilgrimage by Muslims to Mecca — and the Kumbh Mela which takes place every 12 years in India.
Photo: Chen Kuan-pei, Taipei Times
Each year, millions of worshipers flock to join the procession to celebrate the birthday of Matsu, believed to fall on the 23rd day of the third month on the lunar calendar.
Some believers set tables with offerings along the route of the procession, while others supply pilgrims with food and water.
Devout worshipers prostrate themselves on some parts of the journey, while others scramble to crawl underneath the palanquin carrying a statue of the sea goddess to pray for her blessings.
In recent years, the annual tradition has spread beyond middle-aged and elderly people to reach younger believers.
Lin Mao-hsien (林茂賢), an associate professor of Taiwanese languages and literature at National Taichung University, has taken his students on the pilgrimage for nearly 20 years.
Lin said that his students have learned through the procession that the most beautiful part of Taiwan is its people, as they see believers eager to offer food and accommodation or other forms of assistance to the pilgrims.
Most of the pilgrims embark on the nine-day journey not for themselves, but for the well-being of their families and friends, Lin added.
The beauty of humanity shines through, which is touching, he said.
Technology also has a role in the time-honored tradition.
A smartphone app has been developed that allows users to track the procession through a global positioning network set up by Feng Chia University in Taichung.
The Dajia Jenn Lann Temple has also in recent years been organizing one-day pilgrimages for people too busy to embark on the whole trip, with more than 20,000 people signing up last year.
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