Spirit mediums entering Jui Tui temple during Vegetarian festival in Phuket Thailand
Vegetarian Festival is a celebrated every year on Phuket Island in the South of Thailand. Devotees eat vegetables, think and live clean for a nine-day period during this religious festival also called The Nine Emperor Gods (Kiu Ong Lah) festival. The main event of the festival takes place in the mornings when hundreds of spirit mediums pierce themselves with sharp objects through their cheeks or other parts of the body. This is believed to avert evil spirits from the community. To the ear-splitting sound of cymbals, drums and fire crackers, processions of worshippers parade trough town. The whole nine-day spectacle is one of the most bizarre sights in Asia. Both men and women take part in this festival that was brought to Phuket by Chinese workers in the beginning of the 19th century.
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Photo credit: © Bjorn Svensson / Alamy / Afripics
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