Donny Fernando
Indonesians of Chinese descent in the country held a cultural parade in the Glodok area on both Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta on Oct. 21. The parade was held to commemorate the anniversary of the Fat Cu Kung gods, known as the Gods of Fortune. A total of 132 places of worship were represented at the celebration, which began from the Fat Cu Kung Bio Temple.
The statues of the Toa Pe Kong gods were brought from each Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist place of worship from across the country. They were stored at the Fat Cu Kung Bio Temple to be prayed to a day before the celebration began, then transferred onto stretchers.
Some participants also attracted attention, such as the tatung. A tatung in the Hakka language is a person who is possessed by a divine spirit or ancestor. The community believes that the gods who enter the Tatung participants give blessings to their surroundings in various ways, starting from giving a prayer paper that is believed to be a symbol of sustenance, to smearing tatung blood on someone’s forehead, which is believed to be a symbol of protection.[yan]