Celebrating the birthdays of the Gods of Fortune

Tue, December 11, 2018 / 01:46 pm

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A flag belonging to the Fat Cu Kung Bio Temple in Glodok, Central Jakarta, is hoisted during the acceptance of the Toa Pe Kong statues on Oct. 20. 2018. JP/Donny Fernando
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The cultural parade participants decorate a joli (stretcher) with orchids. JP/Donny Fernando
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Participants of the cultural parade are preparing a joli (stretcher) before loading it with the statues of gods. JP/Donny Fernando
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Toa Pe Kong statues from different temples are being prayed to prior to the cultural parade. JP/Donny Fernando
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A worker is welding a stretcher before the start of the cultural parade.JP/Donny Fernando
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Participants are preparing the joli (stretcher) before the cultural parade begins. JP/Donny Fernando
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A Toa Pe Kong statue is moved from the Fat Cu Kung Bio temple onto a stretcher. JP/Donny Fernando
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A total of 132 participants of the cultural parade march along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in the Glodok area, Central Jakarta, on Oct. 21. 2018. JP/Donny Fernando
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A tatung (a man being possessed by a spirit) is doing an extreme attraction during the parade on Jl. Gajah Mada. JP/Donny Fernando
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The cultural parade along Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk becomes an attraction for Jakartans in the area. It commemorates the birthday of the Fat Cu Kung gods. JP/Donny Fernando
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Indonesians of Chinese descent from the Dayak tribe, Kalimantan, join the parade. JP/Donny Fernando
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A tatung (a man possessed by a spirit) smears blood on someone’s forehead during the parade. JP/Donny Fernando

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]