Radio Taiwan International has brought the spectacle of the 2021 Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage to a global audience by broadcasting the procession in eleven languages. Taiwan’s largest religious event began late on Friday evening from Jenn Lann Temple in Dajia, central Taiwan.
Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese watched pilgrims pass by with a palanquin carrying statues of the sea goddess Mazu. The nine-day procession is listed by Discovery Channel as one of the world’s three largest religious activities, along with the Hajj to Mecca and the Hindu rite of bathing in the Ganges River.
This year, Radio Taiwan International was on hand to bring the event to the rest of the world by providing coverage in English, Russian, French, Spanish, German, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese.
RTI President Chang Cheng and Chairperson Ping Lu were also present at the event. Lu says she hopes that people watching the event can forget about the global pandemic for a moment and enjoy the occasion. She says RTI is uniquely placed to provide the kind of multilingual services necessary for bringing the event to a wider audience. She says the Mazu Pilgrimage perfectly captures the unique charm of Taiwan’s religious culture.