The Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated on the 15th night of the seventh lunar month according to the Chinese calendar (lunisolar calendar). The entire month in general is regarded as the Ghost month (鬼月), but the 13th day of this month is called Ghost Day. The followers believe this is a time which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from "hell" to visit the living. I still remember my grandmother warning me to behave especially during this month as there are many spirits wandering around! What a fearsome threat!

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This is a performer who is part of a troop of artists who put up a traditional Hokkien show to entertain the many spirits who roam the earth during this month.

They will pray/chant and offer food and other things to the hungry ghosts, so they will have what they need to survive and move on to their next life. Here in Singapore, we sometimes see offerings and joss sticks at road junctions as believers appease the ghosts there to watch over their children and their partners as they use that crossing daily on their journey to school or work.

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This is a time where we have to literally watch where we are walking as devotees offer their incense and food along the pavement as well.

Food offerings to the hungry ghosts.

Hungry ghosts also appear in Chinese ancestor worship 鬼法界, 鬼界 is "the realm of hungry ghosts". Some Chinese believe that the ghosts of their ancestors return to their houses at a certain time of the year, hungry and ready to eat.

A festival is held to honor the hungry ancestor ghosts and food and drink is put out to satisfy their needs.

More food offerings prepared in a temple.

When Buddhism entered China, it encountered stiff opposition from the Confucian adherents to ancestor worship. Under these pressures, ancestor worship was combined with the Hindu/Buddhist concept of the hungry ghost. Eventually, the Hungry Ghost Festival became an important part of Chinese Buddhist life.

Monks chanting prayers outside the temple.

I remember as a child I visited Haw Par Villa in Singapore, where they showed the Ten Courts of Hell. My goodness, I was a well behaved child for a very long time after that!!

Believers burning "hell money" outside a parking lot in Singapore.

In a Chinese funeral, they burn many Hell Bank Notes for the dead. With this Hell money, the dead person can bribe the ruler of Hell, and spend the rest of the money either in Hell or in Heaven. There is a belief that once the dead person runs out of Hell money, and if he does not receive more, he will be eternally poor.

A Chinese glazed earthenware sculpture of "Hell's torturer," 16th century, Ming Dynasty.

A hot Naraka, one of the Buddhist Hells.

Singapore is unique in that the rituals are brought to life throughout the entire seventh lunar month. At the same time, the immigrants in Singapore have brought their own native rituals to the small island nation where the hungry-ghost month still thrives.

These are giant sized joss sticks burnt as offerings for the hungry ghosts.

These are papier-mache forms of material items to be burnt so that the loved ones can enjoy these comforts in their world.

This is The only month that the "hell gates" are opened for all ghosts to receive food and drinks as well as all other forms of offerings burnt for them.

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When I came across this image it brought back many memories for me as I miss the beauty of Tibet China. The landscapes of Tibet are simply startling and out of this world!!

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When I look at this picture it reminds me of just how cold it was in the mountains at times. The fresh air felt good in my lungs and it never tasted of pollution. I remember well my snowshoeing adventures inside the mountain passes here. The exercise kept me very health and strong.

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The view of the valley below was taken from the Reting Monastery; it sits up in the mountains at 13,500 feet above sea level. The valley below is extremely beautiful and if you look really carefully, you can see the winding river that is also supplied by the melt off of snow.

The image below is yet another breathe taking look at one of the many villages that lay scattered throughout the mountains of Tibet China. Heavy snowfall in some areas is very normal.

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This photo that was shot of Lake Yamdrok Tso is really awesome. Notice how in the background the mountains almost kiss the shy. The clouds add a startling quality of beauty to this already amazing image of Tibet's extremely beautiful scenery.

This is a very beautiful look at the inside of a Monastery; its very warm and pleasing to the eyes. An almost instant feeling of inner peace transcends upon on you as you kneel in the center of this room.

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It's a great place to rekindle your inner child and to find the oneness in the self.

Speaking of children, they're truly wonders of Tibet! They are very interested by those that come from the outside world. Once they get to know you, they also become curious and like to ask a lot of questions. Which is cool; because although you may be teaching them, they're also teaching you too?

 

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This Snow Leopard in the photo below is considered to be very rare wonder of Tibet China. It's an awesome animal and one of many very rare animals that can be found in Tibet China.

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This is my final image of a place that I have come to love and respect and is very awe inspiring. The picture speaks for its self. I'll let you be the judge though.

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Thank you for allowing me to share some of the wonders of Tibet China with you the reader. I hope that it has brought you some form of hidden joy.

The hub of the EU-leaning party is the capital Kiev, which has been looking in recent years to attract more foreign investment and tourism. The city’s Independence Square, focal point of the protests 3 years ago and rallying centre of the latest election, is still a powerful symbol of Ukraine’s various struggles over the centuries against corruption and oppression.

Another, more idiosyncratic, symbol is the Pechersk Lavra, or Monastery of the Caves, which I discovered on a recent visit to the capital.

A Greek Orthodox monk, Anthony, had arrived in Kiev in the 11th century to advocate a simple life of abstinence and seclusion. He set up his mission in a cave on a hill overlooking the Dnipro river. As his adherents grew in number, further catacombs were constructed to house them all. Eventually a whole labyrinth of corridors and chapels had been dug out of the soft sandstone.

Churches and other buildings were constructed overground to accommodate the ever-increasing brethren. With the death of Anthony in 1073, the caves became the monks’ burial ground for the next 700 years, and were only otherwise occupied by those in complete seclusion. The underground monks’ sole contact with the outside world was an anonymous hand passing them an occasional basket of bread through a window.

Pechersk Lavra soon gained a reputation not only as a major religious centre, but also a cultural one. Books were translated and illuminated, and mosaics and frescoes commissioned. Members of the local nobility became important benefactors.

Pilgrims came from all over the Orthodox world, not least to pay respects to the relics of the deceased monks, whose bodies were placed in caskets in the catacombs. The belief was that if a monk was saintly, his body wouldn’t decompose. To this day, the mummified remains are visible, with brown wizened hands poking out of their robes. Science has come up with a more secular reason for this, of course, attributing the lack of decomposition to the caves’ unique micro-climate.

The monuments multiplied above the caves, and, despite damage from various wars, restoration work has preserved their splendour. The gold-domed churches and attractive courtyards alone make the trip worthwhile.

The entire site has survived raids (the Tatars, twice between the 13th and 15th centuries), Russification (18th century), bombings during Nazi occupation, and subsequent secularisation by the Soviets. Religious buildings were converted into storehouses and atheist propaganda museums. After each raid or repression, the monks painstakingly repaired the damage, and constructed more catacombs as a refuge, and as an ever-expanding mausoleum. It was not until after Ukrainian independence that the monastery fully regained its religious status.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Pechersk Lavra still attracts pilgrims. The visit starts with a wander round the overground chapels and courtyards. Monks pass by, as this is still a functioning monastery. The tour, on my visit, was in Ukrainian only, so unless you’re a native speaker, some previous research is advisable. Whatever one’s views about English increasingly becoming the world’s ‘lingua franca’, this is symptomatic of the transitional nature of Ukraine’s ‘move’ westward. The infrastructure is there (good air links, public transport and hotels), but unlike, say, the Baltic republics, the capital (let alone the rest of the country) hasn’t quite geared itself up for multi-lingual tourism.

The entry ticket for visitors is a candle, its flickering light guiding you along the labyrinthine passageways. As the only foreigner in the group, I was observing the rituals of the locals. Silent prayers were said in the tiny underground chapels, then we wended our way past the caskets. The caves are not for the claustrophobic – the stone corridors are not much more than 1m wide and 2m high. Little alcoves in the white-painted walls help you on your way with icons and candles. Each glass-topped casket, with its colourfully-robed mummified occupant, was reverentially kissed and the sign of the cross made. A lady in front of me pressed a photograph of a (presumably sick) child to the glass for the monks’ blessing.

The silence, apart from slowly-shuffling feet, was welcome after the rattling journey here on Kiev’s cavernous, Soviet-built, metro. The monasterial atmosphere was only momentarily interrupted by a little boy who had an unfortunate fit of sneezing during the kissing process. But even that couldn’t detract from the serenity of this intriguing slice of Ukrainian history.