An UPDATE - a photoblog from The Guardian (21st Nov)
Did I understand it all - not a hope. The people who were part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival were people who believed in what it was.
The day started early and we quickly met some people who were part of the Festival.
This MUST have hurt - i am unable to understand how they are able to this unless they are possessed or 'out of it' - click here if you would like to see more of this stomach wrenching displays.
The carnival atmosphere was electric and i was totally drawn into it all - even picking up a wrist bracelet given out by a spirit medium. There was a plethora of people who were pierced in a plethora of different ways - click here if you want to see some photographs of them.
The procession included people outside their homes with a table of offerings set up to welcome the blessings of the spirit mediums.
Following this came the noise of the firecrackers and **** they did make a noise - many photographers and people involved in the parade did have ear plugs or ears stuffed with cotton wool - click here for a small flavour of what I saw.
I tried to collate a number of videos together but nothing could encompass the feeling of being in all that chaos. I have compiled three videos which I have uploaded
The meeting with the Firecracker Man was amazing (above) - I was totally taken aback and it I will certainly be going again to see the Procession next year - I will read more of my text book so I will understand a little more about it - The Chinese Festival in Phuket.
Following this I took a trip into Phuket to watch the Fire Walking - but this was a disappointment - I think that Fire Running would have been a more appropriate title to give it! I did hear that one person did fall over whilst he was running over the flames however ............... BUT I have since read that the injured party failed this because of his own failure to stick to the rules!!
I was interested enough to find out a bit more about Fire Walking and after reading this article about Fire Walking I did feel that it was a con.
I was interested enough to find out a bit more about Fire Walking and after reading this article about Fire Walking I did feel that it was a con.
The atmosphere in Phuket Town near the Jui Tui Shrine and the Clock Tower was wonderful - a real pleasure to visit and see a wonderful phenomena.
There are a great many more photographs that I have taken, there are links to them and these are accessed best through the Cape Panwa Hotel photographic library - I will add these links later.
There are interesting reports in the Phuket Gazette - have a look.
This video was quite disturbing but interesting - click here
There are interesting reports in the Phuket Gazette - have a look.
This video was quite disturbing but interesting - click here
WOW... This looks amazing. I cant wait to see it all with my own eyes this year.
ReplyDelete