An increasing number of young people are visiting Yue Lao temples to pray for tickets to see K-pop group BTS in concert, in a sharp departure from the traditional request for a spouse, informal observers at temples said.
The deity The Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), known as Yue Lao (月老), is said to hold power over matchmaking, romantic fate and interpersonal relationships. Devotees say his influence is not limited to love. Some BTS fans said that when they were unable to secure concert tickets, they visited Yue Lao temples to pray for luck in ticket sales and later succeeded in getting tickets, a practice that has blossomed in popularity among young people.
BTS are scheduled to return to Kaohsiung National Stadium for shows on Nov. 19, 21 and 22, the group’s first return to the city in eight years.
Photo: Reuters
According to event-organizers, tickets are being released in three stages — June 2 (noon to 10pm) for BTS fan club presales, June 3 (noon to 10pm) for Live Nation Taiwan member presales, and June 4 at noon for general sales through the TixCraft system — with demand expected to far exceed supply.
With tickets expected to sell out quickly when sales begin next week, fans brought seating charts of Kaohsiung National Stadium and offerings to Yue Lao temples, hoping the deity would intervene to help them secure tickets.
Supplicants visited the famous Yue Lao shrine inside the Guandi Temple in Kaohsiung on Friday last week.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
Three women interviewed said ticket purchases had always depended on luck, but after praying to Yue Lao, they had successfully obtained tickets and even met their idols in person. They described the experience as wish fulfillment, saying Yue Lao had become a modern-day “guardian who truly understands young people.”
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