The mother of the Nine Emperor Gods was called Doumu, or Taobo in Hokkien dialect. Doumu was said to have been born in India. She later came to China and was married to a Chinese king by whom she had nine sons who were later deified and were known as Kiu Ong Iah. Doumu or Taobo herself was deified as the Goddess of the North Star. Having a deep compassion for the suffering of mankind, Doumu is the Taoist counterpart of Kuan Yin. The Chinese female form of the Buddhist Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara.

Like the ancient Greeks, the Chinese were star worshippers. During the Han dysnasty (202 B.C.-A.D. 220), star worship was firmly established in China. Therefore, the Nine Emperor Gods could have become star deities before Taoism developed in China in the Second century A.D.

When Buddhism entered China, the Chinese accepted the religion easily ass Buddhist precepts call for benevolence and abstinence from killing. The Nine Emperor Gods then became the Bodhisattvas manifesting themselves in the form of the planets in our solar system and they are also believed to have control over the destiny of human beings.

The first record case of fasting in Chinese history went back almost 3000 years B.C. an emperor was told that the secret of attaining long life was to fast, because fasting was an act of self-purification.

It was not until the advent of Buddhism during the reign of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Han (A.D. 58-76) that vegetarianism became widespread among the Chinese.

According to the Chinese custom, people who fast not only abstain from meat, alcoholic drinks and sex but also abstain from killing, quarreling and telling lies. In other words, they have to purify both their body and mind. This is the main reason why people wear white clothes during the vegetarian festival. Strict vegetarians even have a separate set of dishes and abstain from such vegetables that have strong smells as onions, garlic and chives.

A legend concerning strong-smelling vegetables has it that once there was a king called Bu Ti who highly respected a certain abbot and he asked his queen to prepare food for that abbot. The queen was so angry that one day she offered him a dumpling made from pork. Miraculously, the abbot knew immediately that it was not a vegetable dumpling. Therefore, he threw it to the gate in front of the temple. Several days later, there were lots of green onions, leeks and chives growing at the temple gate.

In Phuket the Vegetarian Festival is said to have started at Kathu district about a hundred and fifty years ago. At that time, Kathu was famous for tin ore and the Chinese tin mine laborers formed a large community there. Once, a drama troupe from China was hired to perform traditional Chinese operas to entertain the tin mine workers and their families. While this Chinese drama troupe was in Phuket, an epidemic was spreading and many people died. The Chinese performers also became ill because of the epidemic and could not give any performances. Fortunately, they suddenly realized that it was then the Chinese ninth lunar month and that they did not fast and pay homage to the Nine Emperor Gods as they used to do when they were in China. A Chinese man was, therefore, sent to China in order to perform a ceremony to symbolically invite the Nine Emperor Gods from a temple in China to Phuket. He brought back an urn containing a large incense, which had been lighted since the invitation ceremony he performed when he was in China. In the following year, the Chinese drama troupe as well as the local Chinese started this festival. Soon, the epidemic stopped. From the on , people in Phuket have celebrated this festival.

1. Doumu ‘s Palace. This is the innermost altar situated at the rear of the temple. There is always a yellow curtain hanging at the passage to the altar. This is where the Kiu Ong Iah is invited to reside during his visit to the temple during the nine-day festival. Doumu ‘s Palace is supposed to be a holy place where no one is allowed to enter.

2. The Altar dedicated to the God of Heaven. This altar is located at the front of the temple.

3. The altars of gods and goddesses. These altars are in the hall between the God of Heaven ‘s altar and the Kiu Ong Iah ‘s altar.

4. The Northern and Southern Bushels ‘s altars. The Northern Bushel is the star deity of the northern sky and the Southern Bushed is the star deity of the southern sky. Both these deities are always invited to participate in the festival in order to protect the devotees of the Nine Emperor Gods from misfortunes. The Southern Bushel ‘s altar is on the left of the main entrance whereas the Northern Bushel ‘s altar is on the right.

5. Ko Teng or the Tall Lamp. The tall Lamp is situated on the left in front of the temple. In the evening of the last day of the eighth lunar month, nine lamps fastened to a bamboo pole are raised and attached to the top of a post made from a whole tree trunk to mark the beginning of the festival of the Nine Emperor Gods or the Vegetarian Festival. The Lamps are lowered on the tenth day of the ninth moon to mark the end of the festival.

6. The altar of the Five Generals. The five generals who are command of the five camps, each has an army from 33,000 to 99,000 soldiers, are invited to the temple during the festival in order to protect the consecrated area of the temple from all evils.

1. The Tall Lamp (Ko Teng) Raising Ceremony. This ceremony is performed in the evening of the last day of the eighth moon. A post made from a whole tree trunk is first erected. The Tall Lamp, hung on a bamboo pole together with its leaves, twigs and branches, is raised by a pulley and fastened to the top of the post.

The Tall Lamp or the Ko Teng consists of nine wicks-in-oil in a glass cover. They are arranged in three rows : two wicks at the top row, three at the second and four at the bottom.

This Tall Lamp represents Kiu Ong Iah. Once the Tall Lamp is lighted and raised, it signifies the arrival of Kiu Onh Iah to preside over the Festival and thus the Vegetarian Festival begins. The Tall Lamp is lowered by a pulley to add oil to the wicks and raised to the top of the post every day in order to prevent the light from going out. According to devotees, their lives depend on the Tall Lamp and they believe that if any of the nine wicks-in-oil go out, something disastrous will happen to them and to the whole community.

This Tall Lamp is lowered on the tenth day of the ninth moon after Kiu Ong Iah goes back to Heaven at midnight of the ninth day. After the Tall Lamp is lowered and put away, the Vegetarian Festival has ended.

2. The Invitation Ceremony. This ceremony is performed late at night on the last day of the eighth moon after the Tall Lamp has been raised. In this ceremony, Kiu Ong Iah is invited to descend on earth and reside at the temple during the nine-day festival. His urn is first taken from the altar in Doumu’s Palace to the front of the temple where the Tall Lamp is. Sandal wood slabs, gold joss papers and Chinese amulets are burned in the urn. The spirit mediums chant the invitation prayers and communicate with Kiu Ong Iah by casting the kidney-shaped blocks made from wood called Puay to see it Kiu Ong Iah has descended from Heaven and arrived at the temple. These blocks have a flat bottom and a curved surface. When the flat bottoms are put together, they look like a kidney. To communicate with the Gods, a pair of these kidney-shaped blocks are held in both hands with the flat sides touching each other. Then, they are thrown on the floor. If they show the same sides, the Kiu Ong Iah has not yet arrived. When they show different surfaces, it means Kiu Ong Iah has come to the temple. The urn is then carried back to the altar in Doumu’s Palace behind the yellow curtain there the Nine Emperor Gods are supposed to reside.

3. The Street Procession. During the Vegetarian Festival, processions of spirit mediums and devotees from the Taoist temples parade through town. The main reason of the street procession is to have a fire-worshipping ceremony at an open area near a water way. In Phuket, the fire-worshipping ceremony is performed by spirit mediums at Saphan Hin, a beach in downtown area. The Street possession also allows people to have an opportunity to worship Kiu Ong Iah and other gods and goddesses who appear through spirit mediums at their own homes.

The procession is headed by a group of devotees, usually school children carrying flags and banners with the gods or goddesses ‘ names in Chinese characters. In the processions, there are devotees playing drums, gongs and cymbals. A sedan-chair covered with yellow curtains is where Kiu Ong Iah is supposed to be in the procession. Kiu Ong Iah ‘s sedan-chair is well guarded for by important gods and goddesses possessing the spirit mediums. Kiu Ong Iah ‘s incense urn is also carried along in front of his sedan-chair. Other sedan-chair may have images of important gods and are accompanied by spirit mediums who cut themselves with swords, axes and spiked balls and pierce themselves with needles and large iron skewers or anything imaginable, for example, a bicycle wheel, twigs and branches of trees, etc.

Early in the morning during the last five days of the Vegetarian Festival, Phuket people who live along the roads where the procession is due to pass set up an altar in front of their house. Lighted candles and joss sticks, flowers and offerings of fruit and tea are placed on the altar table. When the procession is passing their house, they let off the fire-crackers and invite the gods and goddesses in the form of possessed mediums to their houses. The spirit medium usually takes some of the offerings and gives them blessings in return.

4. The Bridge-Crossing Ceremony. The Bridge-crossing ceremony is one of the most important ceremonies during the Vegetarian Festival. It is in fact a self purifying ceremony. It is usually performed at about 7.30 p.m. on the eighth day of the festival. The main idea of the ceremony is that after one has crossed the bridges, and has gone through the rituals performed while he is crossing the bridge, the is cleansed from impurities and misfortunes that might fall upon him.

The so-called bridge is made of planks. After the bridge had been built in the morning, it is paved with gold incense papers and no one is allowed to walk on it until it has been ceremonially opened in the evening and gold incense papers have been taken out. Flags with Chinese characters are placed at each corner of the bridge to signify the consecrated boundary and to prevent evil spirits from entering the arena. Under the bridge there is an urn with burning sandal wood. When people cross the bridge, they also cross over the urn. This also signifies that they have been purified.

When the bridge is opened, people are then allowed to step on it. Usually people are born in the years of the tiger and the big snake are allowed to go across the bridge first because people born under these two signs are believed to be the most powerful. After that, people born under nay signs may follow.

While crossing the bridge, participants have to hold a human effigy cut from paper with them. On the two sides of the bridge, possessed mediums wave their personal flags to chase away the impurity that may be in the devotees bodies, sprinkle them with lustral water to clean them and give them blessings. The devotees are also stamped on their back with Kiu Ong Ias ‘s seals to signify that they have passed this ceremony and are thus purified from sins and calamities that might have happened to them. As they step down from the bridge, they have to put the paper effigy in the basket placed on the floor near the way out. These paper effigies are collected and burned before midnight of the same evening. All the impurities and misfortunes are then believed t be completely burnt away.

For the purifying ceremony to be conducted effectively, the ritual area must be well guarded. People who attend the ceremony must keep themselves completely clean. That is to say, they must be strict vegetarians during the nine-day festival. While crossing the bridge, they are not allowed to wear shoes and ornaments. Women with menstrual period are considered unclean and thus are not allowed to attend the ceremony.

5. Other Holy Ceremonies. During the Vegetarian Festival, there are other holy ceremonies and miraculous acts performed by possessed spirit mediums without hurting themselves. Several among them are the fire-walking ceremony, the blade-ladder-climbing ceremony, the holy-oil ceremony. Nobody can explain the true meaning of these ceremonies. However, it is believed that those who take part in these ceremonies must be absolutely “clean and pure”. That is to say, they must follow the vegetarian diet strictly, abstain from sex and have complete faith in Kiu Ong Iah. After the ceremonies, all misfortunes are driven away from them and they will encounter only good fortunes. There are cases of participants, even spirit mediums, who hurt themselves. In such cases, the participants are said to be unclean or impure. These ceremonies are in collaboration with the theme of the Vegetarian Festival in that they are all self-cleansing ceremonies. Some people also interpret it as the spirit mediums performing those seemingly harmful ceremonies in order to save people from their sins. While those ceremonies are performed, there are always sounds of gongs, cymbals, and drums.

a. The Fire-Walking Ceremony. This ceremony is performed in the evening the Vegetarian Festival. If the temple compound is not large, then it is performed in an open area outside the temple. The pyre is usually prepared early in the afternoon from approximately 50 sacks of charcoal, each weighing 100 kilos. The size of the pyre is no less than 5 metres in diameter. When the ceremony starts, the possessed mediums walk barefoot on the burning charcoal. Devotees who follow a strict vegetarian diet, abstain from sex and sinful deeds and have faith in Kiu Ong Iah, when led by the spirit mediums, can also walk on fire without hurting themselves.

b. The Blade-Ladder-Climbing Ceremony. This ceremony is usually performed on the seventh night of the Festival. High ladders made from very sharp knives are erected in front of the temple. During the ceremony, bare-footed spirit mediums carefully step up on the very sharp blades till they reach the top without cutting themselves. At the very top of the ladders, they pay homage to the Goddesses of the Seven Stars.

c. The Holy-oil Ceremony. A large cauldron filled with boiling oil is placed on a burning charcoal stove in an open area in front of the temple. During the ceremony, the possessed mediums dip their hands in the boiling oil and scoop up the oil with their palms to pour over their body. Led by the mediums, strict vegetarians can also take part in this ceremony without hurting themselves.

6. The Farewell Ceremony. The ninth day of the ninth moon is the last day of the Festival. Around midnight of the last day, a long procession of spirit mediums and devotees again parade through town. The procession is, as usual, headed by a group of boys carrying banners with Chinese characters. There are sedan-chairs with images of gods and goddesses as well as Kiu Ong Iah ‘s sedan-chair. His sacred urn is taken out from Doumu’s Palace and carried in front of Kiu Ong Iah ‘s sedan-chair which is covered with yellow curtains. The sounds of drums, gongs, cymbals and fire-crackers are of course indispensable. Devotees who go with the procession dress in white. They all cover their head with a piece of white cloth or a white towel. This to protect themselves from fire-crackers. Each of them holds a large joss stick in his hand. The joss sticks are given to the spirit mediums who perform the farewell ceremony at the end of the procession.

The farewell ceremony is performed near a waterway in Phuket , it is performed at one of the beaches. Devotees kneel down while the spirit mediums chant the prayers in Chinese. The ash in Kiu Ong Iah ’s sacred urn is poured down into the sea and floats away. Kiu Ong Iah is then supposed to return to Heaven.

7. The Tall-Lamp Lowering Ceremony. After the farewell ceremony, people can go back to their normal meat diet. However, on the next day at the Taoist temples, temples, there is still another important ritual to mark the end of the Festival. This ritual is called the Tall-Lamp lowering ceremony.

An auspicious time must first be decided for the Tall Lamp to be lowered down. Important gods and goddesses again appear through the mediums to perform the ceremony. The nine wicks-in-oil are lowered down by a pulley. Then the tree-trunk post is carefully brought down. The oil in the lamp is mixed with the oil used to light the altars of the temple during the Festival and distributed among devotees. It is believed that this oil has supernatural curing power when used as an ointment. The bamboo pole, to which the Tall Lamp is fastened, and Kiu Ong Iah’s flag. Which is fastened over the Tall Lamp, are also divided among devotees as they are believed to bring good luck to those who possess them.

In Doumu ‘s Palace, an important offering is rice grains. These rice grains are also divided among devotees who take them home to mix with the rice in their rice jar. It is believed that people who eat this rice will be saved from ill fortunes.

In short, all ritual objects used during the Vegetarian Festival are believed to be sacred and bring good luck to people who have them.