Phuket Vegetarian Festival processions draw crowds as fire-walking ceremony is scheduled
Processions from Jeng Ong and Tha Ruea shrines drew crowds in Phuket on October 14, with a fire-walking ceremony planned for that evening.
Processions organised by Jeng Ong and Tha Ruea shrines drew large crowds in Phuket on October 14 as the annual Vegetarian Festival continued across the island.
The festival runs from October 10 to 18. Wednesday was its fifth day and the fourth day of the Iew Keng ceremonies, in which sacred deities are taken through the streets to bless devotees and bring good fortune.
The Jeng Ong procession, led by the shrine opposite Vachira Phuket Hospital, featured male and female spirit mediums known as Ma Song performing traditional self-piercing rituals with weapons and other sharp instruments. Festival beliefs hold that the rituals help absorb misfortune on behalf of devotees.
The procession from Tha Ruea Shrine, also known as Hok Leng Keng, was led by Srisoonthorn Mayor Chalermphon Kerdsap and the chairman of the shrine’s Vegetarian Festival organising committee. Shrine committee members and devotees accompanied the deities from the Phuket Rajabhat University intersection along Thepkrasattri Road and through Phuket Town towards Saphan Hin. A ritual was held there to invite sacred incense smoke back to the shrine.
The Tha Ruea procession included Ma Song carrying or using swords, spikes, sickles, hookah pipes and imitation firearms. Crowds watched along the route. The shrine’s distinctive “Iron Fan Princess”, or Ong Ying Pat Lek, also attracted attention as the female spirit medium carried her signature fan through the streets.
A fire-walking ceremony known as Koey Hoi was scheduled for 8pm on October 14 at a vacant lot along Luang Pho Road in Phuket Town. On October 15, Bang Niew Shrine is scheduled to lead the citywide deity procession, departing from the shrine at 6am.
