Thailand kicks off its popular vegetarian festival
Thailand's annual vegetarian festival (also known as Tesagan Gin Je ) will take place in the popular Phuket Island during the new moon of the ninth month of the Chinese calendar, between October 1 and 9, to celebrate the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat, sex and alcohol During these dates it will give you greater spirituality and good health.
The rituals of vegetarian festival They go beyond the gastronomy that their name indicates. One of the best known aspects are the ceremonies organized every year to invoke the gods in which the devotees enter a trance. piercing her cheeks with all kinds of objects such as spikes, umbrellas and knives.
The rituals also include walking over fires or baths with hot oil. All this with the aim of requesting their blessings from the gods. Devotees believe that the Chinese deities will protect them from harm, there will be little blood and the mutilations heal quickly.
The perforations, a shocking offering
The holiday dates back about 150 years , according to the young legend, when a Chinese company traveled to Phuket to entertain the local community of Chinese miners. The entire company fell ill and they fought the unknown epidemic by following a strict vegetarian diet and performing religious rites to purify the body and mind and get rid of evil. Later the town, to celebrate it, developed a festival in gratitude to the gods.
The festival ceremonies take place around the six Chinese temples spread across Phuket, where devotees also bring their offerings of food and drink. They are usually carried out processions through the streets and, in addition to the visual spectacle, visitors can participate by trying vegetarian food prepared especially for these days in the street stalls and markets.
The celebrations also reach Bangkok
bangkok during the same dates it celebrates its own version of the festival, without carrying out the ceremonious rituals.
The meeting point of the capital during the celebration is at the Chinatown, especially in the Yaowarat Street, where some food stalls that operate as a group offering all kinds of vegan soups and desserts are temporarily installed, although occasionally some stalls they use condensed milk or lacto-vegetarian ingredients.
The vendors who strictly follow the festival rules they are easy to identify because they mark their businesses with yellow flags, signs or stickers. The standards include avoid fish sauce, very common in Thai cuisine, which is replaced by soy or mushrooms. In addition, strongly flavored ingredients such as onions and garlic.
Self-mutilation and piercing never existed in China and it is believed that they were adopted by Hindu celebrations from other Asian countries such as India, Malaysia or Singapore . The festival in Bangkok, and especially in Phuket, attracts thousands of onlookers every year.
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The temples are filled with faithful and believers