Chinese New Year: Celebration in Lin Gwan Kiong Temple Accompanied by Angklung

Pecalang stood guard in front of the 

Ling Gwan Kiong temple when Chinese people from 

various regions went home to the town of Singaraja

to celebrate the Chinese New Year 2563 on Monday (Jan 23).

Celebration of Chinese New Year in a number of locations in Buleleng Subdistrict on Monday (Jan 23) took place solemnly. For example, in the Ling Gwan Kiong Temple, Kampung Tinggi, Chinese residents living in Buleleng and outside the region came to perform worship from early morning until the evening.

Interestingly, in this Chinese New Year celebration, a number of pecalang officers or customary security taskforce from customary villages were involved in the safeguarding so that prayers could run safely and smoothly. In addition, a different atmosphere was also visible in the Ling Gwan Kiong temple where the worship in the sanctum was also accompanied by angklung gamelan music commonly used by the Hindus in religious ceremonies in Bali.

Ling Gwan Kiong Temple is indeed a great temple in the town of Singaraja. An attendant of the temple, Hong, said that every celebration of Chinese New Year the worship was centered in the Ling Gwan Kiong temple. To add the solemnity in the celebration of Chinese New Year as well as to show off religious tolerance, the ritual committee of the temple presented the angklung gamelan troupe so the atmosphere of celebration in Buleleng was really different from elsewhere.

Similarly, the involvement of pecalang officers from Kampung Baru gave different nuance. Other than helping safeguard, their presence also made the celebration of Chinese New Year have an atmosphere of tolerance.

Earlier, on Sunday night (Jan 22), in the area of ​​Ling Gwan Kiong temple was also staged the lively Lion Dance. The performance was quite stunning and many people thronged the temple to see the typical attraction of Chinese art. Precisely at 00:00 p.m. Local Time, the Chinese descendants organized a joint worship and ignition of fireworks as the procession of releasing the year 2562 and welcoming the New Year 2563, known as the Year of the Water Dragon.