Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Hungry Ghost Festival Opera

Many Chinese believe that on the 7th month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar the deceased will be released from Purgatory to wonder on earth for 30 days. Hence, the lunar 7th month is also commonly known as the Hungry Ghost Festival or Zhong Yuan Jie in mandarin.

During the 7th month, Chinese families would offer food, burn hell money and paper gifts for their deceased family members and other wondering souls, hoping in return that the deceased will not cause any harm to their family members. In Singapore, you can also see lots of Operas and Getai (live stage performances) and dinner with auctions in the housing estates. Usually the first row of seats at the Operas and Getai are reserved for the members of "the other world" therefore no spectators would take the seats in the front row!

It's been a long time since I went to an opera. When my uncle told me there are one staging near his house, I decided to go and take some pictures. I met up with my uncle after work and took some pictures at the opera. Here are some shots from the opera to share. Enjoy!








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