Shrines preparing for Phuket’s upcoming vegetarian festival

Phuket‘s annual vegetarian festival is right around the corner, coming up on September 26 to October 4. Now, city workers and volunteers are helping Chinese shrines prepare for the festival.

Yesterday, teams helped scrub the forecourts of the main shrines participating in the celebration, including the Pud Jor and Jui Tui shrines in the main city district. Phuket’s Vice Governor Pichet held a press conference to make sure that all shrine administrators understood the rules that shrines have to follow for the festival.

The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is known for its Ma Song. These spiritual devotees will self-mutilate, and slice their cheeks and tongues with swords, knives, and spikes. They will then march for hours, the intention being that through their pain they can achieve a holy and spiritual state. The Ma Song have helpers who follow them along to clean up their blood and pat them down with towels so that they don’t catch on fire from the many fireworks being thrown.

Officials are planning to enforce Covid-19 measures at the festival. Everyone participating in ritual ceremonies at the shrines must have at least two Covid-19 vaccine injections and must take an ATK test every three days during the festival. Participants also must wear masks at all times. Chantana Sittiphan of the Phuket Provincial Office of the Ministry of Culture said that shrine administrators will be responsible for enforcing the measures.

The festival’s street processions will begin on September 27 at the Koor Su Gong Naka Shrine in Wichit. They will be held every day of the festival until October 4. Other events highlighted on the festival’s programme are the ‘fire walking’ purification ceremonies from September 30 to October 4, and the ‘bridge crossing’ ceremonies from October 3-4.

SOURCE: The Phuket News