A very old Altar

[forward]

Found this old red chinese altar hanging on the wall along the street
in Singapore.

There is the usual bottle often found to be used for containing
water, fruit juices etc while on the right is a bowl. These
are tools for containing foodstuff/fruits to the Ultimate during
prayer time. The red container in the front is used to contain
burned joss sticks which is the usual offer from the construction
workers working around the area.

The altar is protected from the rain with an extra large cover
as seen in the picture.

Could anyone explain the meaning of the Chinese words
which were written in gold?

 

[odklizec]

How big is the bottle (in liters)? I'm asking this dumb question, because I can't get the proper measure? The altar seems to be very small or the bottle very big?

 

[forward]

The bottle can contain 1500ml of liquid. Indeed the altar is a very small one.
The close-up ability of the GX100 got me this picture. The lens is just a few
inches away from the subject.

By the way, the 19mm attachment lens was used for this series

 

[forward]

Here is the whole view of the mini altar.

 

[odklizec]

I thought it's small but I was not quite sure It would be interesting to know what these letters mean.

 

[mikl k]

I was also curious. Thanks for the infos and the second picture.

 

[forward]

Altars are often found on the corridor or just outside the main door of homes and shop
houses. This one is unusual in the sense that it is located in a unique location - on the wall
in the back lane of some old shop houses. It appearance suggested that it had been abandoned
there for quite sometime. People dare not destroy it of personal reasons.

 

[marky]

usually on an shrine like this there is fruit and water as a gift to the spirits these are changed regually and the shrines are always kept cleen,....this would sugest that it has been abandoned. aparentlly the writing is a prayer or a homage to the person/spirit......so my wife tells me(she lived in Hong Kong for 20 years).....M