For this unique occasion, a crowd of devotees assemble in every Chinese shrine around the island, followed by an even bigger horde of photographers avid to get the shot of their life. Eventually, the festival has grown into a spectacle and is celebrated yearly in Phuket. During this 9-day period, local residents of Chinese ancestry strictly observe a vegetarian or vegan diet for the purpose of spiritual cleansing and merit-making. I also love exploring the many ancient ruins and historical sites throughout Thailand. Tourists are advised to stay away from areas that observe this scary and deafening aspect of the celebrations. Reopening Thailand: Everything you need to know when traveling during covid, Songkran in Bangkok - Sacred Tradition Vs. Crazy Water Fight. The festival celebrates the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants will help them obtain good health and peace of mind. [9], During the festival, food stalls sell Thai and Chinese food made without animal products. Participants, both women, and men will pierce their cheeks with skewers and knives, and other similar items. It is a good idea to stay well away from this deafening and sometimes frightening aspect of the Vegetarian Festival. The content and the images arenot recommended for the faint of heart! Here are our recommendation for your accommodation: Below is the Youtube video about Phuket Vegetarian Festival if you want to go further. Health officials call for a 'safer' Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Stages are also set up in the shrines for the festival. There are over 40 chinese shrines in Phuket and all of them take out a parade during the festival. To have the best shot of the most gruesome actions on the street, we recommend booking your accommodation in the center of Phuket. The 2022 Phuket Vegetarian Festival (aka Nine Emperor Gods Festival) is taking place from 25 September - 5 October 2022. Get ready to wait and feel the heat for an hour or so: you have to save a place near the burning charcoal early not to have anyone in front of you, which means sweating for at least an hour. Phuket Governor faces taxi doubleheader at Phuket International airport. Most of them sell noodles, sushi, tofu shaped like meat and other fast foods. Look for yellow flags with red Chinese or Thai characters to find vegetarian food stalls. At the temple during the festival there is also firewalking and blade-ladder climbing. 3.Yuan-shih Tien-tsun The First Principal These rules are a must-follow for anyone who participates in the festival. No matter what type of accommodation option you choose while visiting Phuket for the Vegetarian Festival, be sure to book early if possible since rooms tend to fill up quickly during this time of year due to high demand from tourists who come from all over the world just for this event. To achieve this, participants refrain from taking various stimulants and avoid eating meat. I'm a lover of all things adventurous with a particular passion for scuba diving and exploring Thailand's beautiful islands and beaches. Aside from the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, Phuket also celebrates the Loi Krathong Festival, the Chinese New Year, and the Por Tor, or the Festival of the Hungry Ghost. The opera group made a complete recovery and the epidemic ceased. Parades usually start at 9 minutes past the hour, disrupting traffic during morning rush hours. While most Bang Neow Shrine in Phuket Town is one of Phuket's oldest and most revered Chinese shrines. According to Priest Long Hua, this information is inaccurate and considered derogatory to the actual teachings of Taoism as the. 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. Below are some of them: There is this belief within the Chinese community that fire can repel evil influence and overcome impurity. If in doubt, just go toward the noise and chaos! Observe proper hygiene practices to maintain the purity of the festival. However, what sets this festival apart is its bizarre and extreme form of festivities. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is an outstanding week-long event. Aside from major events and activities happening at this shrine for the entirety of the nine-day celebration, it is also here that nine Chinese lanterns are lit, signifying that the festival has started. "Vegetarian Festival" redirects here. Phuket's vegetarian festival traditions include macabre scenes of ritualised mutilation, impaling, cutting, partial skinning and bloodletting, as well as intentional wrapping or standing near fire crackers as they are lit - all without any anaesthetic! According to an early-nineteenth-century interpretation of Chinese Taoism by a local community of Chinese immigrant miners, the Nine Emperor Gods descend from poles located in the shrines yards and incarnate by using the bodies of the participants as shells for walking on Earth. Celebrations typically include preliminary music and dance performances, competitive processions of floats, dancers and musicians on the second day, and culminating on the third day in competitive firings of home-made rockets. We recommend the following websites and resources to help in planning your perfect trip to Thailand. The royal ploughing ceremony, called Lehtun Mingala, or Mingala Ledaw, was also practiced in pre-colonial Burma until 1885 when the monarchy was abolished. The festivities in Phuket include a procession of masong wearing elaborate costumes who pierce their cheeks and tongues with all manner of things, including swords, banners, machine guns, table lamps, and flowers. The best place to book a hotel for the Phuket Vegetarian Festival and be near one of the parades would be one of the heritage hotels in Phuket town. Tired of reading, listen to our podcast below: The Hmong New Year celebration is a cultural tradition that takes place annually in select areas where large Hmong communities exist and in a modified form where smaller communities come together. 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. Get the latest news, inspiring blog articles, or promotion, Boun Bang Fai - Rocket Festival in Thailand and Laos, Buddhist Lent & Khao Phansa Day in Thailand & Laos, Hmong New Year - The Celebration of Colors, Everything you need to know about Magha Puja (Makha Bucha), All about Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Thailand and Cambodia. As such, tourists who fancy eating meat dishes such as steaks or grilled meats wont really be deprived of their protein source during the festivities. It was also reported that Chinese temples in Hat Yai stockpiled vegetarian food in advance of the festival and hired more people. Even so, most injuries are usually sustained from the indiscriminate use of firecrackers. In pre-modern times, Magha Puja has been celebrated by some Southeast Asian communities. Phuket Weather What is the best month to visit Phuket? [3] The Nine Emperors is formed by the seven stars of the Big Dipper of the North Ursa Major (visible) and two assistant stars (invisible to most people). There are also fortune telling booths offering advice from monks or fortunetellers about ones future prospects based on palm reading or astrology readings. San Diego's biggest vegan festival is held at Encinitas' own outdoor bazaar. The participants who prepare to volunteer their bodies to the gods are called the Ma Song. Anything goes; the weirder, the better. Srah Srang - Chasing the Sun at the Royal Bathing Pool, Ta Keo Temple - The Mountain with Golden Peaks, Ta Prohm: Cambodia's 'Tomb Raider' Temple, Ta Som Temple - Home to the Propitious Holy Elephant Jewel, Tad Yuang Waterfall Wins ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Award, Thailand eases entry rules from May 1st, 2022, Thailand Scraps More Covid-19 Rules to Welcome Tourists, The Best Spots & Tours to Catch Angkor Wat Sunrise & Sunset. Shops in Phuket and throughout Thailand display red and yellow jay flags to indicate they are serving appropriate vegan food for observant participants. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival begins on the first day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, so dates change annually. Protein substitutes allow these vegetarian dishes to taste, and look like and replace fish, chicken, and pork in Thai cuisine. Thailands many festivals are always a marvel and something everyone should experience at least once. Don't get in the way of participants who prepared for weeks before the event. It is believed that long ago, a famous Chinese Opera band visited the island to perform for the Chinese inhabitants of Phuket. Chiang Mai is already packed with vegan and vegetarian restaurants, but for Vegetarian Festival, the city takes things to another level. Women in menstruation and pregnancy should not participate in the festival. Wu, Jave (2007), The term Ye as in Jiu Huang Ye (loosely translates as "Grandfather", a title worshipers commonly use to bring a more intimate relationship between themselves and the Nine Emperors. Many restaurants across Phuket offer special menus for vegetarians during this period so its easy to find something delicious no matter what your dietary preferences may be. Although it may be referred to as Vegetarian Festival, the food sold and consumed is vegan. During this period of time, the constant tinkling of a prayer bell and chants from the temple priests are heard. These dishes also use protein substitutes such as soybeans which makes them almost impossible to distinguish from local dishes. Although the Vegetarian Festival can seem like a bizarre carnival, it is still a deeply religious event; show respect and stay out of the way! The streets are filled with people walking barefoot over hot coals or climbing ladders made of blades as part of their spiritual journey. Reopening Myanmar Tourism: What to expect? While the origins of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival are unclear, it is commonly thought that it was brought to the island by a wandering Chinese opera group that fell ill from a malaria epidemic. Presently, it is a public holiday in some of these countries. One member of the opera group was then sent back to China to call on the Kiu Ong lah or the Nine Emperor Gods. The procession walks from an ahm to Phuket town. The Memory at On On Hotel is a real heritage, and a few small guesthouses built on those old Sino Portuguese shophouses are too. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival. Kbal Spean & The Legend of the Valley of 1000 Lingas, Koh Ker - Abandoned Temple of a Forgotten City, Laos boat racing festival: The Race of Friendship and Glory, Laos Confirms Lao New Year Holiday Dates 2022, Laos Eases Entry Procedures for Foreigners and Lao Nationals, Laos Food Insight - Top 10 Dishes You Must Try, Laos Prepares for Full Tourism Reopening, Testing Still Required, Laos reopening - Everything you need to know, Laos Slashes Quarantine Measures for New Arrivals and Returning Residents, Laos Street Food - Top 10 Dishes You Must Try, Laos Tourism Ministry Proposes Full Reopening, Larb Laos Meat Salad: the delicious traditional dish of Laos, Latest updates on Vietnam Covid-19 restrictions for travel & tourism. Weeks before the Vegetarian Festival events, yellow Chinese flags bloom on every roadside and intersection, especially near Chinese temples. Phuket's Cultural Vegetarian Festival 2023. permission of the copyright owner except of the use of quotations in a book review. While most people may see walking on fire as something that is dangerous, devotees are confident that those who are purified and cleansed by the fire will come out unharmed. Most devotees come here to pray for good health or simply pray for the healing of certain health issues. [13] This might be generalizable to other religious practices where believers submit in devotion. The five most ancient Shrines are Put Jaw, Jui Tui, Bang Niew, Cherng Talay, and Kathu Shrine. This temple is considered to be one of the oldest in Phuket and is dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy. Phuket is famous worldwide for its mountainous interiors and exotic beaches.The mesmerizing picturesque scenery in, To pick one as the best beach is a herculean task since Phuket is the, Despite all the modern shops and air-conditioned malls that have sprung recently, the local night, Address: 66 Hussadhisawee Rd, Chang Phueak, Chiang Mai 50300 Close to the tail end of September and budding October, the ninth Chinese lunar month is when Phuket Vegetarian Festival is celebrated. Buddhist Lent Day (Thailand Wan Khao Phansa, Laos Boun Khao Phansa) is the start of the three-month period during the rainy season when monks are required to remain in a particular place such as a monastery or temple grounds. Many of these vegetarian dishes aren't easily distinguishable from regular Thai dishes. It runs for nine days and is considered a bizarre festival. The whole event is usually heavily sponsored. High-speed train offers compelling new way to travel through Laos, All about Full Moon Lantern Festival in Hoi An, All about Laos Elephant Festival in Xayabouly, All about Laos Green Pass Online Visa Portal, All about Laos sticky rice & the best dipping sauce to pair with, An insiders guide for That Luang Festival, Angelina Jolie surprises fans by turning up at Angkor Wat, Angkor - The Capital City of Khmer Empire, Angkor Thom Temple - The Great City of Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat - Cambodias Mystical City of Temples. Address: Bang Neow intersection, Phuket Road, Tambon Talat Yai, Mueang, Phuket 83000. Vietnam or Thailand Travel: Which one should you visit? Bamboo poles are removed from the shrines the following day and safely out back for the next year. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a colourful annual event held on the 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, usually in September or October. 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