|
The A-Ma Temple (Stone
Lions)
Reported by Randy Ma
March 5th,
1998
Welcome
to the A-Ma temple. I’m one of the stone lions that you see at the entrance
of this temple. People come from around the world to visit this temple.
I scare away people that are evil. Rumor says that if a person turns the
stone ball in my mouth in a circle three times, they might have good luck—
but only if they do it right… Anyway, I really hate my life… sometimes.
I'm pretty lucky, in a way. When people set firecrackers, I only hear a
faint noise, thanks to my stone ears. People scream and cover their ears,
unlike me.
A-Ma is a Chinese goddess,
who got onto a boat to travel in the last minute. The nice sailor let her
ride for free, for she is very poor. When a storm began, A-Ma stood up
and ordered the elements to calm down. When they reached the port, A-Ma
went up the hills and disappeared. The sailors were grateful of the goddess,
and built a temple in her honor.
You
might want to know more about this temple, so… This place consists of 4
temples. One being Buddhism, and the others being Taoism. There are incense
coils hanging from the ceiling, for peace and good luck. To help tell their
future people take sticks and put them in a bamboo container. They shake
it around until one falls out. The stick has a number on it, and you go
to the book, look up the number, and it'll tell your fortune.
Oh dear! The HKIS kids are
leaving, and also, I have nothing more to say. So… meet you again in the
future!
|