A Visit to A Sacred Site in Hawaii

Quote of the day: “To encounter the sacred is to be alive at the deepest center of human existence. Sacred places are the truest definitions of the earth; they stand for the earth immediately and forever; they are its flags and shields. If you would know the earth for what it really is, learn it through its sacred places. At Devil’s Tower or Canyon de Chelly or the Cahokia Mounds, you touch the pulse of the living planet; you feel its breath upon you. You become one with a spirit that pervades geologic time and space.”
― N. Scott Momaday

Kaiholena Trail Leads to the Ocean

There is a place called Kaiholena on the Kohala coast of Hawaii that is the site of many ancient ruins. It is a sacred site for Hawaiians and has many heiau (Hawaiian temples), massive halau (long open-air houses), burials, and village complexes.

Looking out from the trail at the dry landscape

It is not a well-marked tourist site. You have to know that it is there and worth visiting. A small turn-off the highway leads to a bumpy dirt road that requires a high clearance and 4-wheel drive to navigate. About a mile from the highway there is a small parking area and a narrow path leads down towards the ocean.

Some ruins at Kaiholena

I went with a friend who had visited the area before. She spoke of “big mana” at this sacred ruins. I found it a powerful place to visit. We were the only ones there and the ruins, the ocean, and the land were beautiful and moving. You can walk far distances and everywhere you look there are ruins dotting the hillside. This was a huge complex. I would love to know more of its history. It is sacred space.