In Penang today; visited the prayer material store that I always drop by whenever I'm in town.

They're on Lebuh Kimberley and pretty impressive.

Mind to share more info of pic #4? The god wif many hands

Whenever you are in Penang, which sintuas do you typically visit?

That's Guan Yin.

Surely you must know her.

Always confused with her "forms"

There are four Tua Li Ya Pek/Hell themed sintuas, one at Gat Lebuh Noordin, one in Jelutong and two in Ayer Itam.

Also, a Ji Gong sintua in Kepala Batas.

Cool. Looking forward to see more sintua scenes from various places.

Hi there. I been captivated by all the information in this thread. Currently at page 27 hahaha...

I was wondering what my relatives pray to. I've been told we are sort of Taoist.

The shrine has this at the top (3 incense sticks):


This at the bottom (5 incense sticks):


2 of these on the sides of the entrance to the shrine (1 incense stick each):


Outside the main shrine on a elevated mini shrine (3 incense sticks):


Outside the main shrine on a grounded mini shrine (3 incense sticks):


I think the bottom one is related to earth deity. Wanted to see if anyone can help to identify.

Welcome to the sintua thread, toweroak. Pleased that it's piqued your interest. Feel free to ask any burning questions regarding the topic that might spring to your mind.

Picture #1 shows, from left to right, Lord Zhang the serpent quelling mystic knight errant, Lord Guan the god of war and Tua Pek Gong, the wealth god aspect of Tu Di Gong the earth deity.

Picture #2 is a shrine to Di Zhu Gong, the lesser earth deity present in every settled plot of land that Datuks do not preside over.

The flanking incense sticks do not really signify anything.

Picture #4 shows the shrine to the Heavenly Hosts in general.

Picture #5 shows a Datuk, a Malay earth/nature deity.

Your family are not Taoists.

You are Chinese folk religion practitioners.

Why 5 incense for Di Zhu Gong?

The offering is fivefold, because you are in, effect, praying to the earth deities of all five cardinal directions - north, south, east, west and centre - when making an offering to Di Zhu Gong.

Thanks for the clarification.

I was also wondering what the different types of incense are used and when/why they are used.

For example the most common is the joss stick type. But I've seen people use sort of like a concave tablet type and they put it in like a bowl while burning.
And different colours, the most common being sort of a grey brown color but I've also used black coloured joss stick as well.

I guess he might have missed your question. Short answer, there is not much difference in them. It is more of a preferences and ease/practicality. There are a few types of incenses, mainly being sticks, coils (Like mosquito coils), cones and some shapes like pagoda shapes (they are actually cones but people just make them into creative shapes). Most people uses the joss sticks as they will to "bai bai" (motion of lifting the joss stick over the head and then move down or bow) and some pray in their mind and stuff. This is the most practical ways and after that they can just stick it into a pot/vase of sand/ash and let it burn until the end. The cleaning person will just have to take out the end sticks that are not burn and discard them. This also enables people to lit them in a bunch easily.

Some people (like me) prefer cones. Just lit the head (the smaller part) and leave it to burn until finish. With this type you cannot "bai bai" and you need a special container for it as the "fire" will burn all the way to the end. If you leave it on the table or places with wood, it make a burnt mark at the end or worse, create fire. The coils is the same and requires special holder that props the coil up and you will have to clean it later. Some people prefer these coils if they "hang" them down on the ceiling. If you look at some temple, they hang the coils and lit them. Some says this will create a sacred space for the deities to work but I believe its mainly the practicality issues. You can't just hang a bunch of joss sticks on the ceiling and on big occasions, a lot of believer will come and if the temple keeper/guardian have to lit a bunch of joss sticks too and fight for space in the urn, its not practical. The act of burning joss sticks is "offering" to the deities. In this case, its the "smell" offering. What "type" or shape does not really matter but what you "offered", both the joss sticks and your heart/intention is what it matters.

Ok, i say in short there is no difference. But there are a few with differences but it might not be sintua but other paths. Some people use for certain "types" of ritual stuff like "smogging" where someone burnt some specific scent to "smoke" the parameter or place to cleanse or "halau" the evil stuff. In this case, either the "raw" ingredient (prefered) or cones will be used for "practicality". They are other occasions or rituals that require specific incense "flavour" but it is not Sintua already so it is outside the scope.

Now, as we covered the type of "incense" as in the forms, there is another another types of incense as in "flavour". It will be better explained if you look at "how" it is made. Most common incense is made of dried wood powder (sandal wood or agarwood). They are crushed into fine powder, with a mixture of other powder, wetted lightly and then pinched into shape and let dry. Some add resins and other dried flower petals and so on and so forth. You can add anything you wish and then make them into both cones or sticks as you like. You can get from the most basic types like the sandalwood/agarwood incense to complex flowery types of flavours. As i mention above, this is a "smell" offering to whoever you wish to give. In the same way, there is another method of making by using powdered resins (crushed) or dried flowers or plants origins and then mix with two other ingredients which helps it stick together and burn nicely. One of the two ingredients needed in this process is charcoal. This creates the black "finished looks" on the incense/cones. Last but not least, there is also another type called "dipped" incense where "original" incense stick was made (cut by manufacturer) and then we dip them into "oils" we want and let the fragrance oil sipped in and then dried them for a few weeks. This is the 3 main ways it is made and of cause they might be others (i dont think i am aware of others at this point) and that is the difference in "flavour". In sintua, does it makes a difference? I do not think so. An offering is just an offering. It is more practicality to me than anything else.

I just type this off on top of my head and in a short time so i might have missed a point or two. Please correct me if i am wrong and tell me if i missed any points *runs and hides from TS*

Ah, I knew i forget some points. Some deities are said to prefer certain scents but it is not essential. An offering is still an offering and as I mentioned, what you give as in your intention/heart when giving is more important than what you give as in material. Of course this is up for debates as some practitioners will say there are no such things and some will argue they were "told" or "feel" certain deities prefer certain things. This one is really up for debates.

Dang you guys are so knowledgeable. I thought the cone type was for special use because only my grandfather used them while everyone else used joss sticks. Now I know.

haha once I accidentally bought scented incense sticks when I was visiting Japan (the kind for praying to their dead/ancestors) because I thought they were fragrance sticks for room use . They had lavender, ocean and a bunch of other fragrances. I think its more for the living to smell because in Japan their houses are small so the smell can be smelled in the whole house.

I like the little cones very much.

The reason I use them is because they don't make as much of a mess as sticks do, and they save on storage space.

Li Ya Pek clears the way for Lord Guan.

Actually i dont think anybody use incense as "room" air freshener because incense, no matter how little "burning" material used, will produce a lot of smoke. There are less smokey types out there but you can never have 0 smoke type. It is meant for "open" air type unless you are doing something that requires it to be closed (yes, there are but its not sintua). The reasons some people use the fragrance type are because some people do not like the agarwood/sandalwood smell and therefore, they use other "smell" type. It might also reduce smoke emission. I personally like dragon blood (a type of resin) but it seems like i cannot find them in Malaysia and importing them cost a bomb due to transportation fee.

On the other hand, if you really want to use in a room and do not want too much smoke, the alternative is candle and oil. You know, those you put water in and then you put a few drops of those scented oils into the water and you light a tea candle underneath? That is actually a good alternative. As offerings goes, you can offer 5 types according to your senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Incence belongs to smell of course. Taste can be food, sight can be candle (a lot of temple includes this), smell can be incense and flowers, touch can be flowers and clothes or other materials. If you think its very troublesome, a tibettan monk once said offering of 7 small glasses of water will do. Its what your heart/intention that counts. Incense are just simple stuff to do and the smell is "good" as most are calming (if you like the smell).

Then how you dedicate them to whatever you are praying to? You give each deity one? or you combine and offer one for all? Hmm.. that is one of the disadvantages of cones unless you either dedicate one each (say you got 3 on your altar and you put 3 cones) which makes it very very smokey and cost a lot, or you use 1 for all (some debate its not so good). Curious how you do it and is combining one for all allowed?

The standard offering for a big group of Hell deities is seven sticks of incense, seven being a number with Yin or Hellish significance (seven phases of the moon, seven times seven/forty-nine days that a newly dead soul gets to spend on earth before they permanently cross over, the Seventh Month, etc).

I merely stand seven little cones in a rough circle within my incense bowl, which is large enough to accommodate them, and light them up.

The cones burn slowly and produce only small amounts of smoke.

Today, the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, is the day that the Kitchen God, who presides over and protects the household, returns to Heaven to make his annual report on the household's merits and demerits; he will make the trip back to Earth on New Year's Eve.

Other deities enshrined within the home may also do the same on this date.