Hungry Ghost Festival

TAOIST FESTIVAL OF THE SPIRITS IN SINGAPORE AND MALAYSIAHungry Ghost Festival celebrates the Taoist belief in the afterlife. Chinese communities in Malaysia and Singapore believe that the gates of Hell open on the 7th lunar month, freeing the spirits of the dead to roam in the world of the living. The living, in turn, must make offerings of food and burnt prayer money to the souls of the dead to appease them. The ghosts in question inspire both pity and fear. The spirits who roam the earth during this time have been denied access to Heaven for some reason, or have no descendants on earth to make offerings on their behalf. The former will look for any living being to take their place in Hell. The latter are starved from their year-long stint in Hell, and seek sustenance during their earthly furlough.The spirits of dead ancestors, though not as needy as the ghosts described above, are also celebrated by their living descendants during this time. CELEBRATING HUNGRY GHOST FESTIVALRead more >>

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