Ethnic Chinese devotees towed a giant replica of a royal barge on a wheeled platform through a Malaysian city on Thursday in a rare and colorful procession aimed at collecting and banishing evil spirits.
Steeped in religious and cultural rites, the Wangkang — or royal ship — procession snaked along a 9-kilometer (6-mile) route in the historic city of Malacca with 22 stops where priests performed cleansing rituals to command evil spirits and other negative influences to board the boat. It was accompanied by various floats and performers.
