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Phuket's Vegetarian Festival

July 20, 2005 at 5:41 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Vegetarian Festival, held each fall in Phuket, Thailand, commemorates events of about 200 years ago, when Chinese opera singers visiting the island were saved from deadly illness by adopting a vegetarian diet for a month. To this day, the islanders celebrate this occurrence, but they don't do it merely by laying off the shrimp and chicken for the period. Instead, hundreds of men (and some women) pierce their skin as a sacrifice for the community as a whole. What do they use? As the Fortean Times reports, "Anything will do, it seems, from swords and daggers, to candles, chillis and straws. Even sharpened, ornately carved table legs, lawnmowers, small sailing boats, shards of glass, bicycle chains or two-meter (6.6 ft) metal poles weighed down with pineapples are used."

Related Stories:
·   The Vegetarian Festival, Phuket [Fortean Times -- warning: photos are extremely bloody]
·   Phuket Events & Festivals [Phuket.com]
·   Photos from 2004 Festival. [Phuket.com -- again, graphic. ]
Thanks, Neal!

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