Phuket vegetarian festival 2020

Across Phuket, especially in the Chinese communities of Phuket City, Thalang and Kathu, Chinese shrines fill up with devotees dressed in pure white. Some perform sacred rituals and physically challenging acts including walking barefoot over hot coals and climbing ladders of sharp blades. To discover a less gory side of the festival, visit some of the hundreds of food stalls that set up around the Chinese phuket vegetarian festival 2020.

Visiting Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Always look for the silver lining. While I spent a couple of months mostly quarantined in my apartment, by June Thailand had effectively opened up. This meant there was time to explore parts of Thailand I had not been to before. The added bonus is Thailand had shut its doors to the 40 million tourists who annually visit the Kingdom. The benefit was I was able to visit places with virtually no foreign tourists combined with the occasional discount as well. While perusing the calendar I noted that the Phuket Vegetarian Festival was taking place in mid-October.

Phuket vegetarian festival 2020

Known as:. Nine Emperor Gods Festival. Phuket Vegetarian Festival is the annual nine-day event, celebrated by the Chinese Hokkien descendants across the island for the purposes of physical well-being, spiritual cleansing, merit-making, conferring good luck in the future, and ensuring prosperity and long life. In , when Phuket inhabited mostly by Chinese miners, the unnamed epidemic was spreading in Kathu Town and caused several deaths. Among many patients, some of them were the members of an opera troupe from China. In hope of finding a cure, the Chinese opera troupe started and led the locals to abstain from eating meat and prayed to the Jade Emperor God and the Nine Emperor Gods for a period of 9 days and 9 nights, as they used to practice during the ninth Chinese lunar month when they were in China. Consequently, members of an opera troupe recovered their health afterwards and caused great curiosity to the locals. The practicing then widely accepted in Chinese community on the island and passed down from generation to generation until present day. Celebrations are taking place at all 25 shrines across the island. During the parade, the possessed ones are all dressed up in Chinese customs to represent which gods have entered them and the most fascinating thing is that they piece their cheeks with swords or needles before the parade. Running across a bed of burning coals, climbing an 8-metre ladder made of sharp blades, and body piercing are made to invoke the gods and becoming mediums of those gods. Men and women puncture their cheeks with sharp items, including knives and skewers.

These processions are high energy sometime verging on complete bedlam.

Fire-walking has been specifically included in the official programme of events for the festival produced by the Tourism Authority of Thailand TAT , released this week. See below. Devotees and Mah Song spirit mediums will lead the procession from the Choor Su Gong Shrine while many local residents and visitors to the island are expected to line the streets to observe the procession. Devotees observing and taking part will be wearing white to represent the purification of taking part in the festival. Komart Pankeard, Chief of the Phuket office of the Ministry of Culture, explained last month that street processions can be held this year like they are every year, but all people taking part in the processions must wear face masks all the time.

If you find yourself in Phuket around September or October, spend some time at a colourful and unique festival. It runs for nine days and is considered a bizarre festival. This is mostly because the festival involves self-mutilation by a few participants in order to show their loyalty to their Deities aside from adopting a special diet for the duration of the festival. Participants usually walk on hot coals or pierce their cheeks with swords! This festival can trace its origins to the belief of the Chinese community that abstaining from various stimulants and meat products can help in obtaining peace of mind and good health. These include invoking the gods through different self-mutilating acts such as body piercing and fire walking. The history of this festival may be a bit unclear but it is commonly believed to have been brought by a Chinese opera group that got hit by the Malaria epidemic of the time. The Chinese observe the tradition of abstaining from telling lies, quarrelling, having sex, drinking alcohol, and eating meat.

Phuket vegetarian festival 2020

The most significant festival in Phuketian culture, the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, is celebrated in the ninth Chinese lunar month, which this year falls on October 6 — October The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is an annual nine-day event, celebrated by the Chinese Hokkien descendants across the island for physical well-being, spiritual cleansing, merit-making, conferring good luck in the future, and ensuring prosperity and long life. In , when Phuket inhabited mostly by Chinese miners, the unnamed epidemic was spreading in Kathu Town and caused several deaths. Among many patients, some of them were the members of an opera troupe from China. They also suddenly stricken by an epidemic when they were hired to perform in Phuket. In hope of finding a cure, the Chinese opera troupe started and led the locals to abstain from eating meat and prayed to the Jade Emperor God and the Nine Emperor Gods for 9 days and 9 nights, as they used to practice during the ninth Chinese lunar month when they were in China. Consequently, members of an opera troupe recovered their health afterwards and caused great curiosity to the locals. The practising then widely accepted in the Chinese community on the island and passed down from generation to generation until the present day. Consume foods that consist of vegetables, except for pungent kinds, such as garlic, onions, coriander and flowering garlic chives. Pray and take refuge.

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Expect to see food stalls everywhere you look with a yellow flag with either red Chinese or Thai characters. To discover a less gory side of the festival, visit some of the hundreds of food stalls that set up around the Chinese temples. Nine Emperor Gods Festival. Yes, you got to peel the onion back. The provide water and wipe away saliva that drips down their chin. The most difficult to observe was the pierced tongues. The brief version is onlookers will clasp their hands together, head bowed, and back arched. Other devotees also fire walk or scale ladders with rungs of knives. As they took a their first step onto the bridge, a masong punched a red stamp onto the back of their shirt. The technician expeditiously slides the piercing into the masong. This is not for the faint of heart. Best exposure.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival or Nine Emperor Gods Festival happens once a year, during the ninth lunar month, and is one of the most auspicious events on Phuket island.

Refrain from sexual behaviour. The masongs provide a cornucopia of blessings as they proceed through the throngs. This had a very Mad Max feel to it … the men are all dressed in white, often with their heads covered in a bandana, sunglasses, and of course in a face mask. Otherwise all over town, many shops are selling Baht shirts or pants. Many shrine keepers beckon the masongs to their table, hopeful to be bestowed with good fortune. The masongs come under a trance and then submit themselves to some shocking body piercings. There are a couple of challenges. The drums thump, the horns blare. Always look for the silver lining. Devotees observing and taking part will be wearing white to represent the purification of taking part in the festival. Home » Visiting Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Leave A Comment Cancel reply Comment. Another iteration of the masongs were the self-flagellation version. Vegetarian Festival Food Fair. Besides the cheek piercings, there were many other alternatives.