Kathu Shrine (Lai Thu Tao Bo Keng), Phuket普吉甲都斗母宫
- Type
- Overseas Daoist Temples
- Location
- Thailand · Phuket Province · Kathu District · Thanon Wichitsongkhram, Kathu
- Coordinates
- 7.9164, 98.3451 Map ↗
- First built
- c. 1825 · Founded during the era of Chinese tin-mine laborers; widely recognized as the birthplace of Phuket's Nine Emperor Gods Vegetarian Festival
Overview
Kathu Shrine is one of the oldest Chinese temples in Phuket, and is widely recognized as the birthplace of Phuket's Nine Emperor Gods Vegetarian Festival (known in Thai as the Vegetarian Festival). Tradition holds that around 1825, during the period when Chinese tin-mine laborers were settling the area, a traveling opera troupe performing there was struck by an epidemic; after the troupe conducted a Nine Emperor Gods ritual the epidemic ceased, and a shrine was subsequently established in worship. It is dedicated chiefly to the Nine Emperor Gods and Doumu, the Dipper Mother — the Nine Emperors belong to the system of the Northern Dipper star lords, while Doumu, mother of the Northern Dipper's stars, holds the Register of Life and Death; this belongs to the Daoist cult of the stars and dippers, making it, among the Chinese temples of Southeast Asia, the one whose religious affiliation lies closest to Daoism. Before leaving, the opera troupe presented three deity images to the community, and later a temple committee traveled to China to bring back the incense burner and scriptures of the Nine Emperor Gods, which were kept in a sealed chamber, and the ritual protocols were fixed at that time. The Nine Emperor Gods Vegetarian Festival is held over nine days, from the first to the ninth day of the ninth lunar month; devotees observe a vegetarian fast and perform rites such as fire-walking over coals and climbing the ladder of knife-blades.
Highlights
- Birthplace of Phuket's Nine Emperor Gods Vegetarian Festival
- Dedicated chiefly to the Nine Emperor Gods and Doumu
- Founded during the era of Chinese tin-mine laborers (around 1825)
- Holds an incense burner and scriptures of the Nine Emperors brought back from China