The annual Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage, the largest annual religious procession in Taiwan, is to take place from April 9 to April 18, the event’s organizers said on Friday.
To determine the dates, Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), the chairman of Jenn Lann Temple (鎮瀾宮) in Taichung’s Dajia District (大甲), sought advice from the sea goddess Matsu in a ritual to clebrate her birthday, the temple said.
Three of its Matsu statues are to be placed in a palanquin at 3pm on April 9, and the procession would formally begin at 11:05pm, the temple said.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was postponed last year from March to June.
This year, disease prevention measures similar to those at last year’s pilgrimage would be in place, the temple said.
It recommended that worshipers watch the livestream of the 340km pilgramage to Fengtian Temple (奉天宮) in Chiayi County’s Hsinkang Township (新港) and back, instead of attending in person.
For worshipers who attend in person, boxed lunches, packaged snacks and beverages would be provided in Taichung, Chiayi, and along the route in Changhua and Yunlin counties, instead of buffets as in previous years, the temple said.
To enter the temples that the Matsu statues visit along the route, people would have to register, it added.
The event, which had attracted more than 1 million worshipers in previous years, saw a decline of in-person participants last year, and the pilgramage was finished faster than expected, the organizers said.
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