Wednesday, February 20, 2013

► Molokai's Iliili-Opae: A Lono Temple - 16

Honolulu Star Bulletin. Friday, February 1, 1957 - Tales about Hawaii, Clarice B. Taylor   

     So great was the consternation caused bu the destruction of Iliili-opae Heiau at Mapulehu that generations went by before the temple was again put to use.

     Those priests of Ku who had not been killed in the downpour which destroyed the temple fled in fear to other islands.

     The people of Molokai nodded their heads and said,  " You see Lono was offended by the number of sacrifices required. He has decreed that men are sacred to him."

     So, in time, the people forgot their horror and since they needed a special heiau to Lono at each annual Makahiki (harvest festival), they rebuilt the heiau.

     Kaalauohua was the name of the king who gathered up the stones of the old temple and rebuilt it.

DEDICATED TO LONO

     Instead of dedicated the entire structure to Ku, he dedicated it to Lono, god of peace and fertility.


     Lono's lama house was again located at the east corner of the heiau platform, where it was accessible to the farmer.

     A platform, 268 feet in length and 85 feet wide, with terraces on three sides, was salvaged and again made the home of Ku.

     Instead of holding sacrificial services at the Ku kapu a  sacrifice was made once a month on the night of Kane (24th of the month).

     Drums were beaten to call the people to the temple. Common men knelt in ranks outside and about the temple. Women hid in the hills where they were not seen.

ALL COULD SEE

     There was no wall about the temple, so all could look upon the ceremony. The sacrifice was carried in alive and tied to a scaffold and strangled.


     At the conclusion of the ceremony, the sacrifice was burnt in a pit at the southeast corner of the temple.

     Services to Lono were carried on at almost any time and anyone could attend (except women).

     The farmer brought his first fruits to an outer wall of the Lono temple where they were received by an underling priest.

SAYS PRAYER

     The priest said a prayer over them.


     In his prayer was correctly said without faltering or without a mistaken word, the first fruits were accepted and taken into the inner temple where they were laid before Lono.

     The farmer went away happy. The acceptance of his offering brought him a blessing and he knew that his next crop would be bountiful.

NEXT: Molokai Mana

No comments:

Post a Comment