KAPAR: TIAN Shen Gong temple created history when it sailed into the Malaysia Book of Records (MBR) for making the largest ship replica as offering for the hungry ghosts.
Costing around RM300,000, the replica was built according to the exact specifications of a real ship. The only thing missing from the replica was an engine.
It has an air conditioning system, fully functioning karaoke room, as well as a food storage compartment stocked with rice provisions for a long sailing trip.
Measuring 6.85m high 19.96m long and 4.26m wide, Tian Shen Gong’s ship beat the previous record held by a boat built by a school in Penang in 2010.
The ship replica, which took three months of painstaking work to complete, will be set ablaze after midnight on Aug 24, following a ritual that begins on Aug 19.
Temple chairman Datuk Tan Lean Kuan said, “We also built a ship in 1999 but it was smaller. The ship is bigger this time to honour and to cater to more spirits.”
He also added that the ship carried a large quantity of dried provisions such as rice, canned food, candies and fresh food such as fruits or buns for the spirits aboard to feast on.
The hungry ghost festival is celebrated in the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar where it is believed the gates of hell are opened for the spirits to roam the earth.
“The festival is celebrated throughout the month to appease and pacify wandering souls.
“The spirits are believed to have died in tragic circumstances or have no surviving family members to pray for them or make offerings during this period,” he said.
Tan said this year’s festival is expected to draw a large crowd as monks from China and Malaysia have been invited to lead the prayers.
“In fact, Taoists and Buddhists monks will chant prayers together.”
Visitors are expected to come dressed in black and white to pay homage to the spirits and ancestors.
Usually, the ritual lasts between three and five days, during which food and prayers are offered to the wandering spirits.
A certificate of recognition was presented to the temple here on Monday by MBR head of research department Leona Paul, witnessed by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.