The golden statue of Mazu (or Goddess A-ma, the Chinese sea goddess) from the Mazu Temple in Meizhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, arrived in Macao Thursday for a three-day display.

This is the first time that the statue was on display in the city whose origin is deeply rooted in the Mazu Culture.

As a highlight of the month-long cultural activities of the Second Macao Mazu Culture Festival, the three-day tour of the statue will include a memorial ceremony to worship Mazu on Friday and a three-hour circumambulation along downtown streets to offer blessings to people in Macao on Saturday.

Ngan In Leng, chairman of the Macao Mazu Foundation said this is the third overseas trip of the statue of Mazu, which paid visits to Taiwan twice in 1997 and 2002, respectively.

The statue, believed by devotees to be the sacred body of the goddess, will fly back to her home temple on the Meizhou Island after a send-off ceremony in Macao on Oct. 24.

According to the foundation, the goddess is worshipped by some 200 million believers in 20 countries and regions around the world. The A-Ma Temple in Macao, which has over 500 years of history, is still shrouded in incense smoke everyday.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2004)