Next month the streets of Pattani in Thailand will witness the festival of Lim Ko Niao, an event which has its origins in a conflict between Chinese and Muslims cultures.
Every year a wooden statue of the goddess-heroine is carried through fire and other feats of asceticism by Chinese devotees in attempt to demonstrate their purity.
The event stems from a legendary incident in the 1570s, when a Chinese pirate married a Muslim woman, converted to Islam and started to build a mosque.
But Lim Ko Niao, the pirate's sister, arrived from China to lure him away from his new life and when she failed to do so, she hanged herself from a cashew tree.
The wood from the tree was then used to make a statue of her, which is preserved in the San Jao Lim Ko Niao shrine.
This annual fair is celebrated 15 days after Chinese New Year but before joining the festival participants need to be vegetarians for at least one week.
