President Tsai joins Baishatun Mazu Pilgrimage for 6th year

Taipei, March 17 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took part Sunday in some preparatory rituals for the annual Baishatun Mazu Pilgrimage, which she will join for the sixth year when it starts shortly after midnight in Miaoli County.

After arriving at Gongtian Temple in the county at 3 p.m. Sunday, Tsai participated in a cleansing ritual for the palanquin that will bear a statue of the sea goddess Mazu on a nine-day procession to another temple that honors Mazu, in Yunlin County.

Holding a pot of burning incense, Tsai circled the palanquin several times to cleanse it before the procession, which will start at 12:35 a.m. Monday and travel approximately 400 kilometers to Chaotian Temple in Yunlin's Beigang Township and back.

Speaking with the press in Miaoli, Tsai said the annual Mazu procession is a very important one in Taiwan, and that some 180,000 pilgrims, a record high, have registered for it this year.

The religious tradition is now known worldwide, she said, noting that foreign nationals were among the registered pilgrims this year.

Tsai said it was a moving experience to see so many people coming together every year to seek the protection of the sea goddess through the Baishatun Mazu procession, as that specific one is called.

As a nation, Taiwan has had to overcome many obstacles over the past few years, she said, adding that she continues to pray for Mazu's blessings on the country.

After Tsai completed the cleansing ritual, the temple's manager Hung Wen-hua (洪文華) presented her with a miniature of the Mazu palanquin as a gift.

According to Hung, this is the sixth consecutive year that Tsai is joining the Baishatun Mazu procession and it was the fourth time that she took part in the palanquin cleansing ritual before the pilgrimage.