Nine Emperor Gods Fire Walking Ceremony @ Tow Boh Keong Taoist Temple in Ipoh

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Yes, I made a second trip to Tow Boh Keong Chinese temple in Ipoh last evening, on the ninth day of the ninth moon on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, to witness the fire walking ceremony. Prior to last evening’s event, I have only witnessed it once years ago also at Tow Boh Keong temple in Ipoh, and I remember that the fire pit was very long and it was conducted outside of the temple compound.

This year, it was held on temple grounds, as you can see from the photos that I have enclosed in this post, and the length of the fire pit was estimated to be 12 feet long. All in all, I spent more than three hours at the temple, from waiting for the fire walking ceremony to begin to the end of the event. By the time it was over, it was already dusk.

I don’t have the actual figure but I would say that there were easily a couple of hundred devotees who were brave enough to walk across the coal, and I haven’t taken into consideration temple committee members or mediums yet. Members of the public who undertook this act of warding off obstacles and cleansing of impurities and enhancing good luck, ranged from toddlers who where carried by their parents to teenagers, working adults and senior citizens.

Although the fire pit was well-prepared and doused regularly with coarse salt, it was still intensely hot and I take my hat off to these gutsy people. It truly is a miracle that no one’s clothes caught fire or was burned.

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