A giant incense stick carried by a worshipper was lit with giant candles

Huge candles in Kaizhang Shengwang Temple — Man lighting a giant incense stick with a giant candle

There was a gate of sorts on a narrow road along the river. It seemed to be the entrance to a temple, and on the gate was written in Chinese characters, "Kaizhang Shengwang Temple". It was a Chinese temple. I wasn't really aware of it, but it seemed to be in Jakarta's Chinatown where I was walking.

The Kaizhang Shengwang is said to be the real-life person who pioneered Zhangzhou, a country of Fujian province in the late Tang Dynasty. And he is revered as a patron god by the people of the country. This Chinese temple was probably built by overseas Chinese who came from Zhangzhou.

Stepping into the temple grounds, like most Chinese temples, there were buildings with the color of red. And at the entrance, there were several large, thick candles. It seems that Chinese temples in Jakarta generally use big candles to celebrate the Chinese New Year, as there were also many big candles in TOASEBIO, another Chinese temple I visited in Jakarta.

While I was looking at the big candles, which is rare in Japan, a worshipper came to the candles. He was holding a large stick-shaped object in his hand. This one was not a candle, but an incense stick. The worshipper was lighting a huge incense stick with a big candle. If the candle is big, the incense is also big. It was as if there was a common understanding that bigger is better.

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