In celebration of the beginning of a new year in the Chinese lunar calendar, throngs of ethnic Chinese worshippers poured into Kheng Hock Keong Temple on Thursday.
Located on Rangoon’s Strand Road in Latha Township, Kheng Hock Keong Temple is one of the oldest and most important Chinese temples in the Burma’s largest city and commercial capital, Rangoon.
Devout worshippers were seen praying inside the temple with incense burners in their hands. Khin Khin Htay, a 73-year-old ethnic Chinese woman, told The Irrawaddy that worshippers believed their wishes were more likely to be fulfilled at this temple than at any other in the city.
Chinese New Year celebrations, beginning on Thursday, will last for eight days ending on Feb. 26. A closing ceremony of New Year festivities will be held at the temple on the evening of Feb. 26, and are expected to carry on into the morning hours.
