PHUKET: Mah Song and devotees of the popular Lorong Shrine, also known as Sui Bun Tong Shrine, held their street procession this morning (October 4), marking the last daytime street procession held in Phuket Town for this year’s Phuket Vegetarian Festival.
The procession started at 7:00 am from the shrine on Pattana Rd Soi 4 and made its way along Pattana Rd, Chaofa Rd and Patipat Rd before heading to the Old City where it continued along Krabi Rd and Dibuk Rd went on.
The moving spectacle continued along Montri Rd, Dilok U-Thit Rd, Kra Rd and then Phuket Rd to reach Saphan Hin, where participants observed the traditional ceremonies honoring the festival gods before returning to the shrine.
Today’s procession differed from other street processions throughout the festival with the large number of women taking part, even as Mah Song Spirit mediums.
Large numbers of people lined the streets to witness the procession hoping to be blessed by the passing Mah Song, many adorned with traditional facial piercings.
Other shrines holding their street processions today are Ngor Hian Tai Tae Shrine in Baan Kian (7:45 am) and Bang Koo Shrine in Koh Kaew (8 am).
Other vegetarian festival ceremonies will continue later today, with all participating shrines holding Ablutions and “bridge-crossing” ceremonies beginning at various times from 4:00 PM to 9:30 PM, depending on the shrine.
Firewalking ceremonies are also held at Kathu Shrine from 3:00 p.m. and Bang Koo Shrine from 7:30 p.m.
The main part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival concludes with a mass ceremony at Saphan Hin tonight.
From 22:00 all main shrines participating in the festival will have their final processions along the streets of Phuket Town towards Saphan Hin, with the main roads near Saphan Hin being closed to traffic while the processions continue. (See image gallery for map of ‘Ritual Farewell Route’.)
The closing ceremony, marked by firecrackers and ending with fireworks at midnight, marks the call to the Jade Emperor to return to heaven as the annual festival nears its conclusion.
Tomorrow from 4:00 p.m. (October 5), all participating shrines will begin their ceremonies to lower their go-teng poles at sunset, marking the end of this year’s festival.
Comments are closed.