Phuket vegetarian festival

The Phuket festival has a graceful bustle which holds a beautiful historical value; the structure of this market is set up in such a way that it hasn’t lost its traditional touch in decades. It follows the belief of avoiding meat and various stimulants during these 9days of lunar month, a time where impressive feats to the Gods are shown and good health and peace of mind are braced. As the name depicts vegetarian festival - The non-vegetarian dishes are mostly replaced with soybean and protein comprised products. All these events are held within the proximity of major six Chinese temples which are scattered throughout Phuket. With the Phuketian style, this festival is known for its extreme celebrations. This Holiday is celebrated in a very unique way where devotees not only consolidate meat but also practice self-mutilation acts by piercing swords through their faces, walking on hot coals or pointed nails, along with climbing ladders which is crafted from knife blades. During this 9 day festival, large group of people dressed up in white, rove around the streets in order to conceive the blessing of 9 emperor gods, while some members insist in taking a shaman trance state which means dancing and performing in front of the gathered crowds.

The first event is Lantern Pole (Seng Ko Teng Thiao) which is conducted with a belief of attracting the 36,000 gods of the Chinese pantheon, all the churches involved in the festival raise their lantern pole on the very first day of the festival season.

Another major event is “The Street Procession” which is considered to be the most impressive and unusual as here devotees join the gory street procession in Phuket town to mark the end of this 9 day long festival by giving the farewell to the nine Emperor gods, these processions aim to accompany them to the spot from where they started.