PHUKET, Thailand – Thousands of devotees gathered in Phuket on Monday to officially mark the start of the annual Vegetarian Festival with the sacred ritual of raising the Go Teng pole, a ceremony of special significance as the tradition celebrates its 200th anniversary this year.
Thousands gathered at the Jui Tui Tao Bo Geng shrine for the ceremony. The pole-raising, which includes hoisting nine lanterns, signals the formal start of nine days of strict purification and abstinence from meat.
Deputy PM Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, Governor Saransak Srikruanetra, and an estimated 2,000 Ma Song (spirit mediums) attended the ritual, along with tourists and residents. Over 40 other Chinese shrines across the island held parallel events.
The festival has already sparked commerce, with yellow-flagged stalls selling vegetarian food and white attire.
Over the coming nights, shrines will host intense rituals like fire walking and the spectacular Iu Keng street processions, where the Deities are believed to bless the town.
The nine-day event, running until October 29, is projected to attract over 600,000 visitors and generate more than 22 billion baht in tourism revenue. (TNA)
