Sunday, 10 February 2008

GOD OF MARRIAGES (月下老人)


I am pictured with a statue of the God of Marriages above. He is known by a few names: Yue Sia Lao Ren ( 月下老人)- "Old Man Under the Moon", Yue Lao" or "Moon Elder, The Old Man in the Moon or the God of Marriage. Yue Lao bears the weighty responsibility of deciding all mortal marriages. He is the deity who has been appointed as the Match-maker for relationships and marriages (牽紅線/結姻緣). This would mean that the marriage of all couples on earth have been prearranged by him. Yue Lao ties the future husband and wife together with an invisible silken cord that never breaks as long as life lasts. At the appropriate time, the cord brings the predestined mates together and they wed!
Besides Yue Lao, in our Chinese Beliefs, there are two more Deities who will assist him in the match-making-task, they are:
1) Hong Luan Xing Jun (紅鸞星君)
2) Tian Xi Xing Jun (天喜星君)
So those singles who wish to get hitched, do you know when is the best timing to pay respect to this heavenly matchmaker, Yue Lao?
The best timing will be on his birthday (月老聖誕), which is on the 15th Day of Lunar 8 Month 農曆八月十五日 (Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋節).
I know that there is one Yue Lao temple in Taipei. It's called Hai Cheng Huang Temple. There is another Yueh Hai Chen temple in Singapore. Does anyone know of any such temples in Malaysia? Write in to let me know.
To read more about this deity, please go to the following sites: http://www.taiwan.com.au/Envtra/Taipei/Media/20060227b.html
http://javewu.multiply.com/photos/album/124

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