Cave deities that like alcohol

A friend made a comment about drinking beer in a cave temple.

That inspired me to look through my photos to find some 'beer gods'. These photos show that the gods like their booze as much as humans!

I don't know who the deities are. The photos were taken in different cave temples around Ipoh.

These deities likes Guinness. The cave temple is Loong Tow Ngam, Gunung Lang, Perak.

In a temple near Kek Look Tong in Perak, this deity has bottles of brandy

I was told this is a "hell spirit" He will accompany those who pass away on the journey of hell according to traditional Chinese belief.

Another friend told me "Offerings of spirits and Guinness (Or Gau in Hokkien) is testimonial to the breath of Chinese culture and its magnanimous accommodation of diversity. On the altar, the bottles of brandy is one level below Buddha and at the same level with a Daoist deity and buddhist lo han. It seems a perfect reflection of the Chinese culture: a mutation of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucionism."

At Nam Loong Ngam at Gng Layang Layang - another Guinness god

Tung Wah Tong at Gng Layang Layang -

At a cave temple at Gunung Ginting in Perak :

Prosperity God

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

8 comments:

1. 
   wai hoong lee29 August 2011 20:49

   where is that temple's locaion?

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   wai hoong lee29 August 2011 20:53

   that one who offer brandy is "hell spirit" He will accompany those who pass away to the journey of hell according to traditional chinese believes

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   wai hoong lee29 August 2011 20:54

   Most of the photos show actually are spirit not god.

   ReplyDelete
4. 
   Liz Price30 August 2011 13:52

   Loong Tow Ngam is at Gunung Lang.
   The brandy god is in a small temple near Kek Look Tong at Gunung Rapat.
   Tung Wah is at Gng Layang Layang.

   ReplyDelete
5. 
   Liz Price30 August 2011 13:52

   Thanks for the info, I was hoping someone would know.

   ReplyDelete
6. 
   SiakHong Law1 September 2011 10:42

   Offerings of spirits and Guiness (Or Gau in Hokkien) is testimonial to the breath of Chinese culture and its magnanimous accommodation of diversity. On the altar, the bottles of brandy is one level below Buddha and at the same level with a Daoist deity and buddhist lo han - not the wayward actress. It seems a perfect reflection of the Chinese culture: a mutation of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucionism. Better not to confuse deity with spirit?

   ReplyDelete
7. 
   Liz Price2 September 2011 14:05

   Thanks for the info. I will look out for other cave deities who drink!!!

   ReplyDelete
8. 
   Yeshe Liew2 September 2011 23:54

   Interesting that a mat salleh is praying as per Chinese home/folk religion. Just don't fool around for precaution sake. Good intention will have good blessing. As for the guiness stout - maybe the temple caretaker is a happy man.

   ReplyDelete

Earth god statue in cave temples

Normally in Malaysia, different religions do not mix. They all have their own beliefs, and apart from Islam, have their own statues of their different deities. However in cave temples I have seen a mix of Chinese, Christian, Hindu, Taoist gods etc in one room. This can easily be seen in the Sai Baba cave temple near Ipoh.

One statue that has always intrigued me is the Malay figure seen in Chinese shrines. The shrines are usually outside the cave temple.

6 statues at Huat Tian temple, Bercham,

I wondered how a "Muslim" statue could appear in a Chinese altar. I've seen this Malay figure in shrines in Chinese temples that are not cave related.
When the Chinese immigrants came to Malaysia, they brought with them their beliefs and gods. As the people were working in fields, rubber plantations, tin mines etc, they set up shrines to house their gods. They also included the Malay figure.

He is often shown as having very dark skin and wears clothes that are worn by Malays, notably the songkok (cap).
This first statue has dark skin and has a songkok and walking stick

This figure has a more pink colour face, wears a songkok and holds a keris.
The next one is similiar

The Chinese believe that all places have a resident spirit, whether it is a building or a piece of land. This spirit, known as Ti Chu Kung, acts as a guardian. The Chinese thinking is that in a Malay area the spirit must be a Malay, hence the statue.

The image is generally found in the entrance area of Chinese temples or under the main altar. Offerings and incense are given. In Malay his title would be Dato or Datuk, in Cantonese it is Na T'o Kung or Na-tik. Wikipedia page on Na Tuk Kong.

These statues are in Jingang Jing She cave temple in Perak.

These are at Miaw Yuan cave temple in Perak

At Gunung Kanthan in Perak, the Zhi Nan Gong (Green Dragon Cave) has these datuks -

And also at Gunung Kanthan, Confucius's Window Cave has this datuk with alcohol bottles, of beer, lager and stout. There is also a pile of empty bottles nearby.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

3 comments:

1. 
   Yeshe Liew5 September 2011 02:12

   I think you can find more details using " Chinese folk religion" in the internet.

   ReplyDelete
2. 
   Liz Price5 September 2011 13:45

   Thanks. I did that...... so much information. Seems the Chinese Earth God is Tu Di Gong. But I'm quite curious about the Malay figure.

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Yeshe Liew6 September 2011 23:35

   Liz, you must give some reasonable doubts - some or most of these punters are no experts.

   ReplyDelete

Crocodile Cave, Ko Tarutao, Thailand

Ko Tarutao is a small island in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Satun, the southernmost province of Thailand. It is part of Ko Tarutao National Marine Park, which is a large archipelago of 51 islands approximately 30 km from Pak Bara in La-Ngu district, 60 km northwest of Satun town.

The islands are north of Langkawi in Malaysia and form part of the same geological group. In fact the main island of Tarutao is only 5 km from Langkawi. These islands are formed of granite and allied rocks, and there is also much limestone. This limestone is the oldest limestone in the area, some 450 million years old.

Tham Chorakhe or Crocodile Cave is a tourist attraction not to be missed.

A small boat took us up river, past lots of mangroves with occasional limestone cliffs jutting out of the forests.

From the jetty a boardwalk leads over mangrove swamps, then steps go down to the cave entrance. The river enters the cave so a pontoon walkway has been constructed on very noisy polystyrene blocks, which squeaked annoyingly as we walked along. The causeway swayed and wobbled, so I had to make sure I was steady before taking pictures of the stalactite formations.

We came to a large dry chamber and we able to explore this with the help of electric lights. It was a nice cave with a lot of stalactites and stalagmites.

The other tourists turned round and went back out, but we were cavers and we could see the far end of the cave ahead, beckoning us. We were separated from it by mud and water but as we were wearing our old caving shoes we thought it wouldn't be a problem. However we weren't expecting the mangrove mud to be so thick and sticky and glutinous. It took a tenacious hold of our shoes and it was a real struggle to move as with each step we sank in mud above ankle level. We were getting nowhere, so decided to give up. Even getting back to the dry chamber was a real struggle, the mud certainly didn't want to give up its grip on our shoes.

Behind the Park HQ is Toe Boo cliff and this is a great place to climb up to see the views and also the sunsets. We were lucky and had glorious sunsets a couple of evenings.

Ko Rang Nok or Birds Nest Island is a small island off the south coast. Locals collect the swiftlets' nests for the Chinese market. There are some coral reefs off the island. Sea gypsies and pirates once plied these waters, today fishermen try to make a living.

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See more on Tarutao.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

UXO in caves in NE Laos

UXO is unexploded ordance

Whilst caving in the Vieng Xai area of NE Laos, we had to be really careful about UXO, or unexploded ordance, as this was one of the most heavily bombed areas during the Vietnam war.

Vieng Xai is a small town, its claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Repulic). Lao gained independence from France in 1949, this was followed by a civil war, and then the communist Pathet Lao came to power in 1975. Around this time, Vieng Xai got caught up in a secret war and became the site of an unprecedented but little known episode in world history.

In the early 1960’s the Pathet Lao moved their headquarters from Vientiane to Houa Phanh province. As the USA tried to halt what it saw as the expansion of communism after World War 2, Laos became caught up in this secret war. The US set out to destroy the Lao revolutionary movement whilst denying any military involvement in the country.

In an attempt to destroy the Pathot Lao’s new command centre at Vieng Xai, the US embarked on a devastating aerial bombing campaign that would last for nine years (1964-1973). More than two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos over this period – more bombs than were dropped on Europe during the Second World War. This total is equivalent to one planeload of bombs every 8 minutes for 9 years. However this fact is little known in world history!

detonator box used as motorbike box

Today UXO is still a huge problem. Unexploded ordnance (UXOs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, etc.) that did not explode when they were employed. UXO are still found and the UXO demining teams are working daily to clear the paddy fields, farmlands, gardens etc.

The biggest problem is the bomblets, locally called bombies, which come from cluster bombs, and are small and easily hidden. One cluster bomb could hold 670 bombies, and if it didn't go off on landing, this means 670 bombies are still "alive" in the earth. And each bombie could contain 300 ball bearings.

bombies

MAG (Mines Advisory Group) from UK began work in Laos in 1994, and 1996 Laos created its own national organisation UXO Laos, with MAG advice and support.

This marker shows what has been cleared

During our caving expeditions, as we were working with the local government and tourism authorities we were given special permission and permits to allow us to go to many areas within the Vieng Xai district, but we always took local guides with us, and were careful never to stray off the path.

A missile struck this rock wall in a cave entrance

bullet scar on rock wall of cave entrance and a bomb crater

Missile found in a cave

bombheads found in cave in Vieng Xai district

Hope it doesn't go off!

These old bomb cases now used as decoration

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

1 comment:

1. 
   Yeshe Liew28 January 2008 23:07

   Aren't you afraid that this bomb may go off ? Is communism such a bad word and must they bomb them !

   ReplyDelete

Gunung Sewu cockpit karst in Java

The Gunung Sewu karst in Java, Indonesia, is famous for the hundreds of small limestone hills.

Gunung Sewu or Thousand Hills, is well known amongst cavers and karst scientists. There are hundreds of cockpit karst hills, covering an area of about 1300 km2, which stretches 85 km from west to east and between 10 and 29 km north to south.

From the city of Yogyakarta the road climbs up on to the escarpment to the town of Wonosari. Geologically there are 2 basins either side of Gunung Kidul. The western one drains south, but the eastern one now drains north to Surabaya, so the land has tipped.

Gunung Sewu cockpit karst

The karst hills can be seen on Google Earth

In 2010 Indonesia opened a karst museum, which is the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia. It is centred around the Gunung Sewu karst.

More than 600 caves are recorded. Some of the show caves are Gua Tabuhan and Gua Song Terus.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Crystal theft from caves

Crystal theft from Malaysian caves is getting common. It is also a problem in other southeastern countries such as Philippines and also China. See more on my caves site.

Stals are also being removed in Malaysia, but I think on a far smaller scale compared to crystals. I think the rampant removal of crystals is due to the number of crytal shops opening everywhere. Although they sell highly expensive imported crystals, they also sell calcite, and may even pretend that the calcite crystals are something else, i.e. more valuable.

Crystals from a quarry

Crystals on sale at Kong Fook Ngam temple, near Ipoh

The worst places for crystal removal are caves in Kedah and Perlis. There have been a few TV documentaries which seem to show this in a good light as it provides income for the villagers and attracts tourists.

Stals on display at Sunway Lagoon

See more on Crystal Cave.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission