Phuket Vegetarian Festival
Thailand’s vegetarian festival is most colorful in Phuket. There the vegetarian festival is celebrated inside and outside Chinese temples throughout the city, as well as during processions between these temples and Phuket Bay. Each temple erects a pole, known as a go teng, or lantern pole, to welcome the Nine Emperor Gods of the Chinese Taoist religion. Each pole is decorated with nine lanterns, and devotees light candles around the poles. Devotees bring shrines or images of deities from their own homes to the temples to receive spiritual energy. Along with the lantern pole, each temple has nine chairs for the gods to sit in. Some temples place statues in the chairs to simulate the invisible gods. These Nine Emperor Gods are associated with the ocean, sea, and sea-faring and may be based on pirates in ancient Chinese literature. The beating of loud drums around the temples and along procession routes scare away evil spirits.