中元节 ZhongYuan Festival at 3d Mile, Sg Maong

The ZhongYuan Festival (中元节） Festival at the 3d Mile, Sg Maong is a public event and one of the largest in Kuching. It is also known as YuLanShenHui (盂兰盆会).

The height of the event will be tonight when at a certain time, all those food items (mostly dried food, fruits and vegetable, rice, etc) placed on the large expanse of the ground behind the main altar will be up for grab in a major free-for-all. This is a typical Hakka (客家) event.  

Giant Dragon Joss Sticks

 

Main Altar

 

  

 

Sweets Mountain

Grains Mountain

Gold Mountain

House

Black Gold with 2 Attendants 

Black Gold

Silver Mountain 

Offerings of Food

 

 

Offerings of Five Types of Fruits 

 

 

  

 

Festival Flags

Tonight, all those food items (mostly dried food, fruits and vegetable, rice, etc) seen here on the large expanse of the ground will be up for grab in a major free-for-all.

 

庆中元 ZhongYuan Festival at Home

Today is the 15th Day of the Seventh Moon and is thus the Chinese festival of ZhongYuan (庆中元) and the day when the gates of the spiritual world open and all souls can roam the human world. Today is also a day for ancestral worship. 

Family Prayers were done this morning....

As usual, all the food for a complete meal are there.

Cempedak (Artocarpus integer)

This amazing fruit, cempedak (Artocarpus integer), can be found in fruit stalls all over the market in Kuching now and what a fruit is it! Yummy!

Look at the golden colour ....

Have to eat with a spoon to avoid the sticky sap ... :-(

The seeds can then be cleaned and then boiled with a bit of salt. They taste like nuts. Very tasty!