Birthday of the Monkey God

The Birthday of the Monkey God is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated in Singapore on the 15th or 16th day of the First Lunar Month.

The popular celebratory customs associated with the Birthday of the Monkey God have both secular and religious (Taoist) themes.

Sun Wukong,[1] also known as the Monkey God and Qi Tian Da Sheng (齊天大聖) meaning ‘Great Sage, Equal of Heaven’,[2] is a protagonist in Journey to the West, a Chinese classical novel.

[1] Celebration often involves mediums referred to as Tan Kees performing "miraculous feats",[2] which includes piercing their own flesh and blood-penning.

[2] In the full regalia, the medium begins swaying his head, twitching his fingers, and jerking his legs, all the while seated on his blood red ‘Dragon Chair’.