San Chao Jui Tui

This guide to San Chao Jui Tui in Phuket Town traces the shrine back to 1825, when a troupe of Hokkien Chinese opera performers fell gravely ill entertaining tin miners on the island. It follows the ritual fast they turned to in desperation, and how that practice grew into Phuket's now-famous Vegetarian Festival, still opened from this courtyard every October. Look for the chicken and dog beside the statue at the back, companions of the shrine's resident god of performing arts.