Chingay Parade 游神

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCgEP1EP7I&feature=share&list=UUo0ioM05KrbX6HC8iWvCQnQ&index=14


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chingay



The Johor Bahru Chingay Parade has a 140-year history, the main theme actually is the procession of the Five Deities from the five main dialect-groups of Johor Bahru. Thus for a JB resident, especially the Chinese-educated, this annual parade is always termed ‘YOU-SHEN’ (游神) or ‘Parade of the Deities’.

As the principal deity in the Johor Bahru Old Temple is Yuan Tian Shang Di which the Teochews call Tua Lau Ya, this festival is still referred to by the Teochews as ‘Yia Lau Ya’ (in Mandarin Yin Lao Ye—营老爷) which in Teachew patois means ‘carrying and parading the Lau Ya’.

The JB You Shen is held annually on the 20th to the 22nd day of the First Month of the Lunar New Year also as part of the Lunar New Year celebration.

JB Old Temple has five main deities for the five main dialect-groups: Yuan Tian Shang Di (原天上帝) or Tua Lau Ya (大老爷)for the Teochews, Hong Xian Da Di (洪天大帝) for the Hokkiens, Gan Tian Da Di (感天大帝) for the Hakkas, Hua Guang Da Di (华光大帝) for the Cantonese and Zhao Da Yuan Shuai (赵大元帅) for the Hainanese.


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To the folks in JB, Homecoming means much more than an annual reunion, but a journey to connect our past and present: a time to celebrate a legacy that spans over a century, a bond between divine and mankind, a connection that's uniquely JB. HOMECOMING is a series of short stories about the upcoming JB Chingay, and what it means to come home for this home carnival. Watch our sneak preview this Chinese New Year's eve - 30 January 2014.





















Tiong Hua Association(中华公会)   takes the lead in unifying the Chinese clans in Johor Bahru and through festivities like the You Shen Parade, fosters inter-clan cooperation and unity. The festivities begins each year on the morning or noon of the 19th day when a troop of gong-bearers adorned with a divine banner will be seen walking and clanging the gongs along the entire parade route to ‘wash the way’. On the 20th day of the Lunar Calendar robust young men will then enter the Old Temple at the opportune time in the morning to prepare the deities for their annual journey; this preparation is elaborate and only the real experts are qualified to tie the sedans and fasten the idols so that they will not drop during the jostling and tussling when borne. Having secured the idols to the stable and lofty positions then each of the sedans is carried out by robust devotees onto Jalan Trus amidst the shouts of ‘Huat-ah’ or ‘Heng-ah’ (Prosperity-ho! Fortune-ho!). These sedans are then carried on a straight journey to be placed at the Jalan Ngee Heng Shen Chang (神厂) or Deities’ Depot for general worship.

On the 21st day at about 7 in the evening is the grand parade; all the devotees and those with designated tee-shirts of the respective associations will then enter the Deities’ Depot to lift their respective deities for the night parade; this will be accompanied by troupes of opera characters, musical bands, lion-dancers, dragon dancers, decorated floats, acrobats, stilt-walkers, big-headed dolls, giant flags and many other groups to entertain the town-folks who by then will line along the entire route eagerly awaiting the deities to pass; for the more devoted and superstitious each time a sedan passes by they will clasp their palms in prayer and yell Heng-ah or Huat-ah. The order of the procession is always predetermined; the first deity to lead the parade will be Zhao Da Yuan Shuai of the Hainanese clan, followed by Hua Guang Da Di (Cantonese), then Gan Tian Da Di (Hakka), Hong Xian Da Di (Hokkien) and the last to round up the back is the main deity Yuan Tian Shang Di (Teochew).