Kwun Yum Festival: Day of Assumption as Sea Goddess
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Why We Recommend it
One of the four Kwun Yum Festivals each year, Kwun Yum’s Day of Assumption as Sea Goddess falls in December of the Lunar Calendar.
Description
Kwun Yum or Kwun Sai Yum was a male deity in the early eras of Buddhism, but evolved to a female deity in the Tong Dynasty. She is known for centuries as a goddess of sympathy, compassion and mercy, and is willing to hear the pleas of those who are suffering. Kwun Yum’s studying on lotus blossoms came to represent the quietness, peace and detachedness from the material world.
Upon Kwun Yum’s sea deification, worshipers start to queue long before the temple opening time to be the first to “borrow” money from the goddess. They will offer incense and draw lucky red paper that tells them how much Kwun Yum will loan them. If they get any income increase throughout the year, they will repay her at the following festival.
