A Sacrificial Ritual for Kie Ong Ya

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

EVERY year, the ethnic-Chinese community in Bagansiapiapi, Riau, celebrate a boat-burning festival as a way to honor their ancestors and preserve a centuries-old tradition.

EVERY year, the ethnic-Chinese community in Bagansiapiapi, Riau, celebrate a boat-burning festival as a way to honor their ancestors and preserve a centuries-old tradition. The ritual is meant to show gratitude to the god Kie Ong Ya and is believed to deliver luck and a better life. Go Gek Cap Lak-the festival's name in the Hokkien language-is also a time when Bagansiapiapi's ethnic-Chinese living away from home return to their homeland. . tempo : 173223974195.

ON Saturday three weeks ago, thousands of ethnic-Chinese Indonesians gathered at the In Hok Kiong Temple in Bagansiapiapi, Rokan Hilir Regency, Riau. People in the crowd took turns taking three incense sticks, known as hio, placed on a long table in the temple's yard, to then light them with flames from large candles.

They proceeded to pray in front of a boat replica on display in the yard, kneeling and occasionally bowing their heads while shaki

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