Worship of Mazu
"Sharing Incense" or "Sharing the Goddess" means that Mazu temples elsewhere dispatch people to bring their temple's Mazu statue to Meizhou Mazu Temple, for all the statues of Mazu worshipped in other temples come from the ancestral temple at Meizhou. So, on important festival days such as Mazu's birthday and Mazu's ascension day (the ninth day of the ninth lunar month), clergy and laity at other temples organize pilgrim bands to come to Meizhou with their statues to have them "visit their old home". After these statues are worshipped in the ancestral temple, the pilgrim bands take them back to their home temples.
The eve of Mazu's birthday is the most sacred time for followers of the Mazu cult. Puxian Opera performances are held for the three days and nights around her birthday, attracting hundreds of pilgrims to the temple square. After the performance is over the pilgrims take part in various recreational activities in the square until almost midnight. Then they form into lines and climb the mountain, each one carrying burning incense. They vie with each other to reach Tianhou Hall first to offer incense to Mazu at zero hour on her birthday. They believe that it is most effective to worship the goddess and ask for her blessing at this hour.
Crowds of people fill the hall, which is thick with burning incense. Firecrackers are set off in front of the incense burner outside the hall, producing a deafening noise. After offering incense at Tianhou Hall, the pilgrims go to pay their respects at Ascension-to-Heaven Rock and then climb to the mountaintop to pay homage to the goddess' statue. A powerful lamp installed on top of the goddess' head shines like a luminous pearl the whole night through. Some of the pilgrims stay on the mountain till daybreak, while others go back to spend the night in Tianhou Hall.
Source: travelchinaguide.com
Editor: Wang Moyan
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