The Origin:

Kiu Ong Tai Tea Shrine (Rawai) is located at 60 Moo 6, Rawai Sub-district, Mueang District, Phuket Province. It is the land of the “Sookkaew” family, originally owned by Mr. Wang and Mrs. Lamead Sookkaew. Both of them intended to give this land to build the Kiu Ong Tai Tea Shrine. When they passed away, their heirs inherited the land. All the heirs inherited the intention of their parents and jointly donated the land, approximately 2 rais or almost 3 rais, to the Kiu Ong Tai Tea Shrine (Rawai). It has been considered as their property and has been used to hold the vegetarian festival since 2549 B.E. until the present. The great power of Kiu Ong Tai Tea assigned Un Kong Tai Tea to be the chief administrator to manage the construction of the shrine. The official construction committee was established, and the ceremony of pillar-laying was held on May 5, 2555 B.E.

This shrine will serve as a melting pot of customs, traditions, and faiths. It will be a center for practicing Dharma and observing the vegetarian precepts throughout the year. In the future, this shrine will also be used for healing illnesses and diseases. The discipleship of “Lai Pae Kong” from Singapore will be stationed here to provide free treatment to the sick.

Nevertheless, at the Kiu Ong Tai Tea Shrine (Rawai), there exists a narrative concerning the history of the “Maha Bodhi Footprint”. Mrs. Lamead, a kind-hearted villager with psychic abilities according to local beliefs, was instructed to take a bodhi tree from a dead coconut tree and plant it. Mrs. Lamead walked around with the bodhi tree, searching for a place to plant it, until she came to this spot, which is where Kiu Ong Tai Tea had left his footprint. Subsequently, she paid homage to the footprint of the Buddha, thereby establishing the “Maha Bodhi Footprint”.

Source: https://mgronline.com/