Efforts at the Tha Ruea Shrine, south of the Heroines Monument, began yesterday (Oct 1), with devotees and volunteers cleaning open areas, benches, tables, altars, shrines and images of important gods for the festival, including ‘Po Sheng Tai Te’, or ‘Hong Jin Yin’.
In preparation for the large volume of vegetarian dishes to be cooked at the shrine during the nine-day festival, efforts yesterday also focussed on cleaning cooking appliances and kitchenware such as pots and pans, as well as plates, knives, forks and spoons.
Also cleaned were items and relics used to perform rituals and ceremonies throughout the festival.
Mass cleaning at the Jui Tui ‘Tao Bo Keng’ Shrine will get underway on Oct 9, and preparations at other major shrines, such as the Bang Neow Shrine, Lor Rong Shrine, Sam Kong Shrine, Naga Shrine and Kathu Shrine, will get underway on Oct 10.
On the evening of Oct 14, the day before the festival begins, as is tradition all shrines taking part in the festival will perform the raising of ‘Go Teng’ poles so the gods may descend from the heavens before the Vegetarian Festival officially begins the next day.