Every year, for nine days, Phuket holds its bizarre Taoist Vegetarian festival. From the piercings to the possessions, Andrew Spooner takes in this colourful event
Before Phuket became a world-class tourist destination, it was a centre for the tin trade. In the 19th century, thousands of Hokkien Chinese immigrated here to work, bringing with them their Taoist beliefs and establishing numerous temples and shrinesPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThe temples are mostly places of meditation and contemplation. Incense is lit, numerous gods are worshipped and ancestors are rememberedPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThe Vegetarian festival has its origins in the sickness of a visiting Chinese opera troupe in 1825 and subsequent restoration to health after following a vegetarian diet in honour of Taoist gods. For nine days, these temples play host to a variety of arcane ritualsPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerOn the streets of Phuket, red-and-gold-emblazoned food stalls serve up vegan food - mostly tofu and vegetable curries - to thousands of white-clad devotees. For nine days, no animal products will be consumed, marking the purity of the worshippersPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThe festival is well known for its bizarre and painful-looking live piercings. Entranced 'mediums', supposedly possessed by a god, show the power of the spirits they are hosting by the scale and size of the piercingPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThe mediums - who wear elaborate silk aprons and crack whips to scare off evil spirits - are not only men. Here, a female medium gets her tongue pierced at the Kathu shrinePhotograph: Andrew SpoonerSome of the piercings are incredibly elaborate, decorative displays. This man's took several hours to put in placePhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThe gods of the shrine are paraded on palanquins through the streets of Phuket City. The parades are important rituals during which the general population can make offerings to increase their luckPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerDevotees believe loud noise drives away evil spirits. Here, locals twist a huge string of firecrackers around a long pole, which is then lit and held over the palanquinsPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerWhole families, including elderly relatives, wait along the parade route to make offerings of tea, fruit and flowers to the possessed, pierced mediumsPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerWarriors and mediums show off their piercingsPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThis collection of knives and shears shoved through a young man's cheeks defies beliefPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerA medium blesses a child. As the warriors and mediums - each the living embodiment of the god possessing them - pass by, locals happily interact with themPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerAfter the warriors and mediums pass, the palanquins follow. The sound of firecrackers reaches a deafening crescendo and the air is yellowed with a thick fugPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerFirewalking is a supreme test of a medium's power. Here, helpers at the Kathu shrine prepare the coals for walking by dampening them down with wooden paddlesPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerSome mediums are calm and dignified as they walk across the ferociously hot coals. Others run, letting out loud criesPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThis man's feet and legs appear undamaged after walking across the coalsPhotograph: Andrew SpoonerThe festival ends with a huge parade in the centre of Phuket City, of all the gods from all the shrines on the island. Thousands of people light fireworks, and the effect is akin to a war zone, with intense noise, smoke and the ever-present danger of exploding firecrackersPhotograph: Andrew Spooner
