Hindu Car Blessings on Penang Island
When you are in Penang you can sometimes witness a unique Hindu Car blessings ceremony. The ceremony is conducted by a Hindu priest at the Temple ground itself. This blessing ceremony is widely practiced by the Indians and Chinese. This is multicultural harmony played out in daily routines.
A popular place where this ceremony is conducted is at the Temple on the road leading to the Botanical gardens. This temple is open from seven in the morning till half past six in the evening. The newly delivered car is first driven straight to the temple.
The ceremony begins by first you seek blessing from the Temple Deity. You then pay a few ringgit to the priest. The priest then goes around the car, chanting mantras, ringing a bell and sprinkling holy water. Colored ash is rubbed on the number plates and some blessed words are written using colored ash onto the windscreen, flower petals are thrown over the car. A coconut is then smashed in front of the Car. Inside the temple you are also given some colored ash to put on your forehead. After the ceremony the priest will hand you a blessed half of a coconut filled with betel leaves, bananas and flowers and a tiny packet of ash.
As you get to drive away your spanking new car, you will need divine protection right away as the Temple is located right at a busy traffic junction and most probably you been blocking half of the road for twenty minutes.
Hey! Why not, if this divine helps in the safety of my car and the driver. Driving on Penang roads you need extra special emotional skills. So these days you will see Lorries, motorcycles, vans queuing up. Some vehicles are not new, so I guess it is to Top up the blessings.
