Temple on Hill Of WhaleThe Temple on the Hill of the WhaleImagine it is the year 1790 and you are the Polynesian King of the Island of Hawaii named King Kamehameha I (which means 'the lonely one' and is pronounced 'kah may ha may ha'). You inherited the right to be royalty by being born to a high chief and a princess and you proved your right to be king through feats of strength and war and you have invaded and conquered the Hawaiian Islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. You are over 7 feet tall and very strong and you believe the Hawaiian Islands will benefit from unification and you are the one to unify them. One day your aunt brings you advice from the prophet Kapoukahi ('kah po oo kah hee') which says you will succeed in conquering all the Hawaiian islands if you build a heiau (which means 'temple' and is pronounced 'hey ow') at Pu'ukohola (which means 'hill of the whale' and is pronounced poo-oo ko ho lah) dedicated to the God of war, Kuka'ilimoku ('koo kah - ee lee mo koo'). What do you do? Why, you build it of course! Pu'ukohola Heiau is an incredibly impressive structure made entirely of water-worn lava rock located in Kawaihae on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is believed to have taken thousands of men a year to build it by hand. There is no where in the immediate area to get the rocks needed so it is thought that the workers formed a human chain 20 miles long to hoist the rocks out of Pololu Valley in North Kohala. The temple is 224 feet by 100 feet with 20 foot high walls. The purpose of the temple was a place to honor the God of war and perform religious ceremonies dedicated to him. And yes, King Kamehameha did go on shortly after the temple was finished to conquer all of the islands and unify them creating a monarchy that lasted until 1893. This massive rock structure is now the main reason for a small National Park meant to preserve the heiau and the surrounding area. It is located off Rte 270 just north of the Hwy 19 intersection in Kawaihae in South Kohala. There is no entrance fee to the park - you just drive in and check things out. My husband and I were drawn to the park last weekend on a trip to Kona. We were driving down Kawaihae Road, still about 4 miles from the coast when we saw a huge whale breach in the distance and create a gigantic splash. My husband asked (yelled) "Did you see that whale?!?" and I said "Whale? I though that was a boat exploding!!" and that was it - we had to find a place to stop and check out the whale action off the coast. As soon as we got to 270 we pulled over and found ourselves in the parking lot of the Pu'ukohola National Park. I grabbed the binoculars and he grabbed the video camera and we walked across the grass and down the hill and watched the whales. The viewing was amazing. We were up on a hill, but only 20 feet from the water and we had incredible views of what appeared to be two separate pods with three whales apiece. They would come out and slap their tails on the water, then blow water up in the air, and every once in a while one would breach (propel their body out of the water and come down sideways) and create a huge splash. We watched the show for about 15 minutes and then we got up and looked around. There was a small visitors center that sold books and gave away pamphlets. Behind that was the back view of the heiau from about 150 feet away. Even from the back it was neat to look at - it was all rock and rose 20 feet up in the air. We walked down the hill to the path in front of the heiau and read the National Park placard about it and looked up at it from the hill. No one is allowed to go in or on it to avoid destroying it but it is still impressive to look at. There is also a smaller heiau below Pu'ukohola named Mailekine that is kind of in disrepair. In front of that is a path to a small bay full of black-tipped reef sharks that used to be the site of a "royal courtyard" where the ali'i (royalty, pronounced 'ah lee-ee') would hang out. All in all the hour and a half we spent there was well worth it. Remember if you follow the trail down the hill you will have to get back up (tiring and hot) - and bring your camera on this short and impressive history lesson on the Great Kamehameha's not-so-humble beginnings. Here is the National Park site and here is a picture |
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