Nine Emperor Gods Festival
The Festival is celebrated on the first day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar
The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is generally held from the last day of the eighth lunar month to the ninth day of the ninth lunar month among Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. It begins with the welcoming of the gods into the temple where they are to be worshipped for nine days, and ends when the gods are sent off on the ninth day. The festival is known for the temple processions that take place during the celebrations. The oldest and most prominent temple in Singapore dedicated to the Nine Emperor Gods is the Hougang Tou Mu Temple on Upper Serangoon Road.
Origin of the belief in Singapore:
- Worship of the Nine Emperor Gods is said to have originated in Fujian, China. Apparently, a youth from China, Lin Yin, brought to Penang scrolls of the Nine Emperor Gods. The scrolls now lie in the temple of the Nine Emperor Gods in the town of Ampang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- There are multiple accounts of how the veneration of the Nine Emperor Gods then arrived in Singapore. According to some accounts, a businessman by the name of Ong Choo Kee was in Penang to make a business deal, and made a vow to worship the Nine Emperor Gods for the rest of his life in exchange for a successful deal. He subsequently returned to Singapore, bringing with him either the statue of one of the gods or an amulet representing all nine, and installed it in a small temple near his home. He later built a temple dedicated to the Nine Emperor Gods along Upper Serangoon Road, which is known today as the Hougang Tou Mu Temple.
- In another account, tin miners in Kuala Lumpur during the early 19th century began succumbing to a deadly illness. It was said that Ong Choo Kee, this time a physician, happened to be in sole possession of an original sacred text from China belonging to the Nine Emperor Gods. He visited the miners and, whilst there, became possessed by the spirits of the gods. The deities spoke through Ong and drove away the evil spirit responsible for the miners’ illness. Ong then came to Singapore and set up a small temple along Upper Serangoon Road dedicated to the Nine Emperor Gods. Two rich men, Ong Chwee Tow and Ong Koi Gim, later donated large sums of money to the temple, and a new one was built on the site. The structure, which still stands today, was gazetted as a national monument in 2005.
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