Spirits and the sword

Glancing at images featuring bearded men walking over hot coals or sitting in a trance-like state with various implements piercing their faces, first time visitors to Thailand’s south could be forgiven for thinking that Phuket’s Vegetarian Festival promotes the pleasure of pain. That isn’t the case however: The nine-day (and night) festival in fact celebrates the purification and reunification of human body and the spirits of the gods. 

This annual event returns to Phuket next month, revealing the enigmatic side of the Pearl of the Andaman though it still remains the best place in Thailand to wear a bikini. 

Expect ear-splitting and colourful parades, burning incense, peaceful chants, loads of vegetarian food and, of course, the scary twist of a the procession of self-mutilated devotees roaming the old town. 

This year, Phuket's famous festival takes place from October 5 to 13 in the old town, where yellow flags will be flying for the entire nine days.

Celebrated by the Chinese-speaking community on the island that’s today best known for its coconut-fringed beaches, stylish resorts and laid-back attitude, the Vegetarian Festival showcases Phuket’s mystical side.

The Vegetarian Festival has been an annual spiritual event for more than 150 years.

The locals will tell you that the festival was introduced to the town of Kathu by a visiting theatre troupe from China. Struck down by a mysterious and deadly epidemic, the entertainers decided they had fallen ill because they had failed to pay respect to the nine Emperor Gods of Taoism.

The performers then, the legend goes, erected temples and held a vegetarian festival to ward off any residual bad luck.

Apparently the unorthodox remedy worked, and the annual vegetarian festival has been held ever since. Abstention from sex and alcohol were added in later years for absolute purification.

From October 5, the whole town will fly yellow flags to mark the beginning of the spiritual retreat.

On the eve of the festival, a large pole is raised at each Chinese shrine, and the nine Emperor Gods of Taoism are invited to descend from the heavens and take part in the ceremonies. At midnight, nine lanterns are lit and hung on the poles, meaning that the Vegetarian Festival has begun. 

Food stalls also fly yellow flags to indicate they serve only vegetarian food, and devotees dress in white for the entire nine days to show they intend to remain pure.

While the vegetarian food is tempting and the Chinese shrines are gaily decorated, most visitors focus on the “maa song”, the human mediums inhabited by the gods during the festival.

The maa songs manifest supernatural powers and perform self-mutilation so they can absorb evil from other individuals and ensure a fortunate life for the entire community. 

Each morning begins with processions through the town. 

At dawn, one can find scores of young men thronging the inner sanctums of the temples, preparing themselves for self-mutilation. At the base of the shrines, they go into a trance, begin speaking in tones and donning colourful aprons with Taoist symbols, as doctors make cuts at both sides of their mouths. It's a painful “pleasure” at least in the eyes of beholders. Prepare yourself for the shocking.

The festivity hits its highest point with a procession of people deep in a trance, piercing their tongues and cheeks and other parts of their anatomy with spears, daggers, sharpened branches and anything else that comes to hand. Possessed by the spirits of nine deities, these ascetics apparently feel no pain and show little sign of real injury.

The festival will end on October 25. The poles will be uprooted, as nine Emperor Gods of Taoism return to where they belong. 

 

If you go

_  Phuket International Airport has frequent flights from Bangkok as well as direct flights from many other airports in the region, including Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and direct charters to Europe and Australia in the high season.

_ Phuket celebrates the annual Vegetarian Festival from October 5 to 13. For more details about this holy event and its thrilling processions, call the TAT Southern Office: Region 4 at (076) 211 036, 212 213 or 217 138, or visit www.PhuketVegetarian.com.