Guan Yin's Birthday

Last Sunday, 11th March was the Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin's birthday. Devotees will know that Guan Yin has three birthdays in a year - the other two being on the 19th day of the 6th and 9th months of the lunar calendar (The Day of Enlightenment and The Day of Renunciation respectively).

In the old days, we used to go all the way to the Guan Yin temple in Pitt Street to offer prayers on Her birthday. We would go a day earlier to beat the crowd; even so, the temple would already be crowded and the air thick with smoke from burning joss-sticks. We had to push our way from urn to urn to place our joss-sticks and there was always the danger of being "stabbed" in the back by someone's lighted joss-sticks! I dreaded going to the temple on such occasions but Mum gave us no choice. After we had finished our prayers, Mum would ask us to wait for her at the side of the temple while she had a private conversation with Guan Yin.

Those familiar with the Pitt Street temple will know that there is an "inner chamber" in the main altar, just behind the main table of offerings. It is actually a small passage in front of the glass case where Guan Yin and other deities are installed and only ladies are allowed to enter this "chamber". There is a drawing of a lady's face outside the entrance to indicate that males are strictly prohibited (I'm not sure whether it's still there). Here the ladies can pour out their hearts to Guan Yin and appeal for whatever help She can give. I think this "inner chamber" can only accommodate six to eight ladies at a time and it is often a tight squeeze for them. On one or two occasions, I spotted a male intruder sandwiched between two ladies but nobody had the heart to throw him out!

Our altar with offerings of tea, fruit and kueh

We now do our prayers at home which is really much simpler and less stressful. Incidentally, when I was small, Mum arranged for me to become an "adopted child" of Guan Yin. This is considered a great honour and it is believed that through Her compassion and mercy, the child will grow up under Her protection and be healthy and well-behaved (I must have been pretty mischievous when I was small!).

Guan Yin's birthday is also considered an auspicious day for piercing the ears of small children to bring them good luck. I think we had ours pierced too during this time and had to wear small garlic stems in our ear holes after that to keep them open and "alive"!

By the way, part of Guan Yin's temple, now 211 years old, was damaged by falling roof tiles during a heavy downpour last October. Restoration work is being planned and hopefully the temple will have a new look soon.

Guan Yin Temple, Pitt Street