A young girl looking at Tai Su YeahThe annual Phor Thor festival was organized by Yulan Prayers Association in a grand scale in Bukit Mertajam during the month of August – September.
Towering at a height of 7.9m for the year 2007, the effigy has grown from a mere 1.8m some 50 years ago till today.
The effigy with piercing fangs and flaring nostrils has interesting story of how a strange disease hit the town several hundred years ago. Many people died and the folks dare not venture out at night. A representative from the town was sent to China to invite Tai Su Yeah to Bukit Mertajam. Prayers were performed for the diety and the town returns to normalcy. Over the years the height of the effigy has increased.
On the last day of the Phor Thor festival, Tai Su Yeah would be sent back to the afterlife in a huge bonfire. The direction in which the burning effigy falls would indicate whether the coming year would be a prosperous one or not.
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