5. Sending off
On the day of sending off, the temple is visibly more crowded than the day of receiving. The dining tables are all packed with people having their dinner. There are many elderly devotees who came down specially to partake in the sending off procession. A festive atmosphere prevailed at the temple as people sit around and chat with one another.
At about 7pm, the temple committee will open the Nine Emperors chamber to the devotees for them to pay their respects and to see the Nine Emperor Bodhisattvas. Devotees queue up to enter the chamber and are given a joss stick each by the temple’s committee members. They will first pray at the front of the chamber, before walking through the inner chamber and paying their respects inside.
At 7.30pm, the lion dance troupe from Shi Cheng Jin Yong Dragon And Lion Dance Centre (狮城劲勇龙狮院) arrives and goes around the temple compound to pay respect to the different deities and altars.
The dragon dance troupe arrives 15 minutes later. The vanguard opens the way for the entrance of the troupe by cracking the dragon whip to chase away any evil spirits, similar to what he had done for the lion dance troupe before. The dragon dance troupe will also proceed to each of the altars to pay their respects. While this is going on, Master Chen and the temple committee will prepare for the arrival of Guan Yin Da Shi.
After the arrival of the Guan Yin Da Shi, He goes to the Dou Mu altar to oversee the lowering of the lamps. All the committee members in the temple follow the instructions and kneel down. As the Dou Mu Heavenly Lamps were lowered, the committee members throw joss paper into the air at them. The devotees will rush to pick up the joss papers and rubbed them over their faces and bodies to be blessed with safety and good luck.
Guan Yin Da Shi and the temple’s committee members then return to the Guan Yin Hall, also the main hall of the temple, to initiate the ceremony to send off the NIne Emperor Bodhisattvas.
At around 8.30pm, the temple committee and the palanquin proceed to the different altars to pay their respects to begin their journey to East Coast Park.
The devotees board the buses chartered by the temple, while the committee members boarded the lorry or the floats, and make their way together to East Coast Park.
Several temple committee members have gone earlier to prepare the ceremonial/ritual table.
Members of the temple committee and volunteers then move the Dragon ship to the beach. The dragon ship, constructed of wood and paper, is very much covered by the talismans pasted on them.
Similar to the day of receiving, the guardian of the incense censer will have to kneel down, take out the incense censer and plaque of the Nine Emperor Bodhisattvas, carry them on his head, and to move towards the ceremonial table. The elders holding the dragon and phoenix staff would stand on the two sides of the censer guardian, and accompany him to the altar.
Representatives from the temple’s committee are called individually to pay their respects. Thereafter, Master Chen leads the devotees in the prayer ritual. Upon conclusion of the ritual, the joss sticks are collected and placed in the incense censer on the ceremonial table.
The temple committee members will carry the incense censer and the dragon ship into the sea at the same time, to signify the sending off of the Nine Emperor Bodhisattvas.
After returning to the temple, the committee members and devotees would drink longan and red dates soup, to mark the end of the vegan restrictions during the festival.
Nine Emperor Gods Project 九皇文化计划 