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Hot Water Bathing and Nail Bridge Climbing at Te Khun Tai Te Shrine (Pasak)
Local culture
Free entry
Medium
▰▰▰▱
Family
Fri, 16 October · from 20:30
Cherng Talay time (UTC+7)
Te Khun Tai Te Shrine (Pasak)
Thalang
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Thailand · Phuket · Cherng Talay
About the event
In the evening, Te Khun Tai Te Shrine (Pasak) holds two rites back to back: the ma song, in trance, bathe in water boiled in a cauldron over a fire, then climb barefoot over a bridge studded with nails. Spectators keep their distance and film only with the shrine staff's permission; the time follows TAT's schedule and may shift.
From the editors
Pasak Shrine is a small shrine among rice fields on the Pasak – Ban Don road, built by the villagers on donated land in 1972. The Phuket Vegetarian Festival (Jia Chai) is the nine-day Taoist festival of the Nine Emperor Gods: those who keep it dress in white, give up meat and hold vows of purification, while 39 shrines across the island hold their own rites. The trials of the ma song, mediums in trance, by fire, boiling water and blades show the power of the god: while the deity is in the body it is believed to be protected, and the medium takes on the community's misfortune.