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Today, October 24th, was the last day of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival. I have been watching this event for the past 20 years. With a strict vegetarian diet, street procession, and striking visual of self-mutilation including body piercing and religious rituals to purify body and mind.

The event never fails to fascinate with its unique spectacle and appeal that attract visitors from every corner of the world. The festival has its origins in China and is dedicated to the Nine Emperor Gods in the Taoist dogma. It was brought over to Thailand by a Chinese opera troupe in 1825.

Legend has it that the troupe came over at the invitation of the local Chinese migrant population but fell ill from a malaria epidemic. In hope of finding a cure, the Chinese opera troupe started and led the locals to abstain from eating meat and prayed to the Jade Emperor God and the Nine Emperor
Gods for 9 days and 9 nights, as they used to practice during the ninth Chinese lunar month when they were in China. Since then, this has become an annual event.