The living care for ancestors and wandering spirits at Malaysia’s Hungry Ghost Festival

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Malaysia (AP) — It’s that time of year when the living make room for the dead. Malaysia’s Hungry Ghost Festival is held during the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, which this year began in mid-August.

“It is centered around the worship of Da Shi Ye, also known as the Guardian God of Ghosts, and has become one of the major traditional Chinese religious celebrations in Bukit Mertajam,” said Lee Kim Fong, general affairs coordinator for the event.

The city is in Malaysia’s northern state of Penang, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur .

“It dates back to 1888, when there was a serious plague in Bukit Mertajam,” Lee said. “After that, our ancestors began worshipping Da Shi Ye.”

For 15 days, devotees pray and make offerings before a towering paper-and-bamboo effigy of Da Shi Ye. The celebration culminates in the ceremonial burning of the effigy, symbolically sending the deity back to the spirit world.

Lee estimated that more than 10,000 people attended the burning ceremony this year, with crowds sometimes reaching 20,000.

“The main purpose is to look after wandering spirits, especially spirits who have no one to worship or make…