The weather is not hot, but when I was there is was rain for a moment… so the trip is a little rush… I plan to visit them again to see the rest that I missed today…

Manage to take some photo when I was there…

In Thai or siamese community in Malaysia, they believed that in certain days in the year, the hungry ghost (or preta) is released from hell and they visit the human world. During this time, they will have a ceremony which basically offer food for donation to the monk with the hope that any of their relative or ancestors which may get into the hungry ghost realms to get some food from them.

In wiki, hungry ghost or preta is describe as below:

In Buddhist Psychology at least, Hungry Ghosts are ghosts only in the sense of not being fully alive; not fully capable of living and appreciating what the moment has to offer. Although the Eastern terminology and metaphor is very different, the concept has strong parallels with similar concepts in Western Psychology.

In his book Thoughts Without a Thinker, Mark Epstein paints a picture connecting these two viewpoints:

The Hungry Ghosts are probably the most vividly drawn metaphors in the Wheel of Life. Phantomlike creatures with withered limbs, grossly bloated bellies, and long thin necks, the Hungry Ghosts in many ways represent a fusion of rage and desire. Tormented by unfulfilled cravings and insatiably demanding of impossible satisfactions, the Hungry Ghosts are searching for gratification for old unfulfilled needs whose time has passed. They are beings who have uncovered a terrible emptiness within themselves, who cannot see the impossibility of correcting something that has already happened. Their ghostlike state represents their attachment to the past

This ceremony can be seen every year in any siamese temple in Malaysia. Some of you might think that it is very ‘old believed’ and it is not even practices in many location even in Thailand, however I think it is an interesting and ‘exotic’ culture which is hard to be seen in other places.

Here is some photo that I take during the visit.

Monk chanting in the ceremony – the ceremony start with the chanting.

The money for donation is stick to the ‘tree’.

The buddhist believed that if they do good things, they can transfer part of the merit to the death.

Paying respect to their ancestor.

Having lunch. Each ‘family’ normally will bring their own lunch then eat together.

After pray, they will bring food to a ‘stage’. This is to symbolise that they offer the food to the preta – hungry ghost.

closer view for the stage

Another view

Some family will make a wish and transfer merit near the stage.

Every food that is presented, will have jostick stick to it.

In Kedah, they will have someone dress as hungry ghost – preta, coming to the stage to take the food. This is to symbolise it.

another view

Normally kids will come and take the food offered at the stage in the end of the ceremony.

There are teenager which place some music to entertain the visitor to the ceremony. This is new things which has been added to the ceremony. Not all temple will have this.

Since there are many peoples, some take the opportunity to sell some goods in a ‘temporary stall’.

A food stall.

This is a unique culture in Malaysia. Not many Malaysian that even know about it. If you visit Malaysia and have a chances to see it, do not missed it.

I have some more trips to share here… it will be very soon…

In the meantime, enjoy!

There are many photo missing from the blog. It is actually because there are some technical error in the server that I save the photo… I am not sure if I will able to find all the missing photo but I will try to check out some of them and reload it somewhere and link it to here…

I am very sorry for the inconveniance couse…

by Faridah Begum

Fascinating Putrajaya.

Putrajaya is about 20 minutes’ drive from the KLIA. You can exit at the Putrajaya/Cyberjaya exit on the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) or through Puchong. Road signs to Putrajaya are aplenty and one cannot get lost if the sign are observed and followed.

The nation’s administrative city has many attractions that make it a worthwhile place to visit.

1.Perdana Putra

Insipired by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Perdana Putra houses the Prime Minister’s Department and overlooks the beautiful Putrajaya Lake. The structurak design is strongly influenced by the Malay, Islamic and European cultures.

2. Putra Mosque

The Putra Mosque is the principal mosque of Putrajaya and is located next to Perdana Putra. There is a large squaqre in front of the mosque that has flagpoles flying the Malaysian states’ flag and is a stopover for the numerous foreign guest who visit daily.

3. Putrajaya Independence Square

The Putrajaya Indepence Square or Dataran Merdeka is a city square used for the national day parades and for festivals. It is located opposite the Perdana Putra.

4. Millenniium Monument

This national monument is located in a 25hapark in Precinct 2 of Putrajaya and was the first national monument to be built here. Built in the shape of the national flower-the hibicus-it stands at 68m tall and is constructed of solid metal structures.

5. Putrajaya Wetlands Park

Putrajaya Wetlands Park is believed to be the largest constructed freshwater wetlands in the tropics. It has a total area of 3.35sq km and comprises the Wetlands Park, which is also a wildlife sanctuary which attracts a huge variety of animals to the combined terrestrial aquatic wetland environment.

6. Taman selatan

Taman selatan or Southern Park is a cemetery quite like the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC, in the United States. It has 570 grave plots, of which 331 are reserved for Muslims, 94 for Buddhistes, 55 for Christians, 61 for Hindus and the final 29 plots for those of other regilions.Among the notables buried here are the current Prime Minister’s late wife Datin Seri Endon Mahmood and Petronas presedint Tan Sri Azizan Zainal Abidin.

7. Melawati Palace

The Melawati Palace, also known as Istana Hinggap, is a retreat of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Located in Precint 1, Putrajaya, it was completed in 2002.

8. Putrajaya Lake

Located at the centre of this new and latest Federal Territory of Malaysia, it is a 650ha man-made lake that acts as a natural cooling system for the city and is also used for recreation, fishing, water sports and water transport. In September 2004, the F1 Powerboat Championship was held on this lake for the first time and in 2005, Putrajaya hosted the Asian Canoeing Champoinships.

9. Alamanda Putrajaya

Alamanda Putrajaya is the first shopping centre built in Putrajaya and has French hypermarket Giant, Carrefour, as an anchor tenant and 180 other tenants. The shopping centre has a variety of shops, restaurant, bowling alleys, movie theatres and a food court illuminated by natural lighting. The centre also features Malaysia’s first travelator within a shopping complex that connects the retail outlets and provides access directly to car aprks.

10. All Malaysian foods, even those peculiar to the individual states, can be found here especially in the food court adjacent to the Putra Mosque and in the shopping centre, Alamanda Putrajaya.