Festival of Nine Emperor God

“Nine Emperor God or Festival of Nine Emperor God (Chinese: 九皇爺, Hokkien: Kow Ong Yah, Cantonese: Kow Wong Yeh) is held over the first 9 days of the 9th lunar month to celebrate the return from heaven to earth of the Nine Emperor spirits, who are worshipped as one deity and who represent health, wealth and prosperity. It is believed that everyday will rain during these 9 days of celebration.” ~ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Last Sunday I saw a girl wearing a thin piece of yellow cloth around her wrist which reminded me of my paternal grandma. When I was a little girl, my grandma used to go to a well known Chinese temple called Nan Thien Kwang in Ampang village every year on the eve of the Festival of the Nine Emperor God for prayers and asked for blessings on behalf of her children, their spouses and her grandchildren. The receiver of the yellow cloth will be blessed with health, wealth and prosperity. It will be worn around the wrist for nine days.

Every year during the Festival of Nine Emperor God, it always rain for nine days. This year, the first day of the festival started on last Sunday (22/10/06) and will end on 30th of October. I have been counting and it really has been raining everyday since last Sunday. It is amazing how the ancient people knew how to forecast the weather so many centuries in advance.

I haven’t been wearing the yellow piece of cloth around my wrist for many years since my grandma had passed away in year 1999. The rain this evening brought back many memories of my grandma. The yellow cloth was one of her ways of showing her love to us.

I have always believed that children who grew up with their grandparents around are the luckiest grandchildren. I’m grateful that I had the chance to experience being pampered, fussed and loved by my grandparents. I hope my future children will be blessed with healthy grandparents to enjoy each other’s company and love.