00:04Devotees of the sea goddess Mazu gather early Sunday morning in the southern city of Kaohsiung
00:09for a special event. One of the most revered statues of the goddess has come here from its
00:14home temple in Miao Li, around 200 kilometers away. Over two days, this statue, the Baixatuan
00:21Mazu, has been paraded around for a two-day tour of blessings.
00:28Today, the final day of the event, this statue and a local statue of the goddess will make
00:33the rounds of the community together, and people have come from far away to get here.
00:47Drums, gongs, and cymbals follow the visiting goddess's pink pelanguin, shouldered by a team
00:52of men. A highlight for many is to bow down on the road and let Mazu pass over them,
00:57an act thought to bring blessings and protection. Every aspect of the event is filled with both
01:04excitement and reverence. Even the cleanup crew following the procession and sweeping up debris
01:10left from exploding firecrackers has a sacred role to play.
01:13Drums, gongs, and cymbals, we will take care of the mission of the world and take care of the
01:19environmentalists. So, after the bomb, we will take care of the team.
01:22Drums, gongs, and cymbals, and the local community will take care of the city.
01:23But in terms of religious fervor, today's procession is just a warm-up. The Baixatuan Mazu statue's
01:29main act for the year is still a few weeks away, when hundreds of thousands follow the statue
01:34on a 400-kilometer circuit around central Taiwan. This year's Grand Parade starts April 12th,
01:41just before midnight. And already, excitement is building. Since registration opened last
01:46Wednesday, over 300,000 people have signed up, already very close to breaking the record-setting
01:52attendance at last year's procession. This footage from Friday shows a one-and-a-half-kilometer-long
01:57line of people waiting to add their name to the list of pilgrims. And with a cut-off day of
02:02April 9th,
02:03there's still plenty of time for a new record. Faith in the sea goddess runs deep in Taiwan,
02:08and one of the biggest annual expressions of this faith, the great Baixatuan Mazu pilgrimage,
02:13will soon be underway. Yuen Duan and John Van Trieste for Taiwan Plus.
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