Vegetarian Festival – Phuket

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• The Various Ceremonies
• The Chinese Temples

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a colorful event, celebrating the Chinese community’s belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind.

Though the origins of the festival are unclear, it is commonly thought that the festival was bought to Phuket by a wandering Chinese opera group who fell ill with malaria while performing on the island.

They decided to adhere to a strict vegetarian diet and pray to the Nine Emperor Gods to ensure the purification of the mind and body. To everyone’s amazement, the opera group made a complete recovery. The people celebrated by holding a festival that was meant to honor the gods and express the people’s happiness at surviving what was, in the 19th century, a fatal illness. Subsequently, the festival grew and developed into a spectacular annual event that is attended by thousands, with participants flying in from China and other parts of Asia.

The Various Ceremonies

One of the most exciting aspects of the festival is the various, (and sometimes gruesome) ceremonies, which are held to invoke the gods. Firewalking, body piercing and other acts of self-mutilation undertaken by participants acting as mediums of the gods have become more spectacular and daring as each year goes by. Men and women puncture their cheeks with various items including knives, skewers, and other household items. It is believed that the Chinese gods will protect such people from harm, and, strangely, little blood or scarring results from such mutilations. This is definitely not recommended viewing for the faint-hearted.

The Chinese Temples

The ceremonies of the festival take place in the vicinity of the six Chinese temples scattered throughout Phuket. The main temple is Jui Tui Shrine, which is not far from the Fresh Market in Phuket Town. The first event is the raising of the Lantern Pole, an act that notifies the nine Chinese gods that the festival is about to begin. The pole is at least ten meters tall and once erected, celebrants believe that the Hindu god, Shiva descends, bringing spiritual power to the event.

For the next few days, members of the local Chinese/Thai community bring household idols to the temple, along with offerings of food and drink. It is assumed that the household gods will benefit from the annual injection of spiritual energy that fills the temple. Visitors can observe and even participate in the lighting of joss sticks and candles that are placed around the various idols.

Source: http://www.phuket.com/festival/vegetarian.htm