“There were two rituals which the king in his eminent station used in the worship of the gods; one was the ritual of Ku, the other that of Lono. The Ku-ritual was very strict (oolea), the service most arduous (ikaika).”

“The priests of this rite were distinct from others and outranked them. They were called priests of the order of Ku, because Ku was the highest god whom the king worshipped in following their ritual.”

“They were also called priests of the order of Kanalu because that was the name of their first priestly ancestor. These two names were their titles of highest distinction.”

“The Lona-ritual was milder, the service more comfortable. Its priests were, however, of a separate order and of an inferior grade. They were said to be of the order of Lono (moo-Lono ), because Lono was the chief object of the king’s worship when he followed the ritual. The priests of this ritual were also said to be of the order of Paliku.”

“David Malo uses the terms mua and heiau almost as if they were interchangeable, and meant the same thing. The mua was the men’s eating house, tabu to women. The family idol, were probably kept there, and it seems as if some part of it was set apart as a shrine or heiau.” (Malo)

“The heiau at which fishermen worshipped their patron deity for good luck was of the kind called kuula; but as to the gods worshipped by fishermen, they were various and numerous, each one worshipping the god of his choice. The articles made tabu by one god were different from those made tabu by another god.” (Malo)

“Heiau ma‘o … was a temporary structure of small size for the use of the aliis only, any when its purpose was over, it was taken down. It was a slight structure covered with tapa cloth stained with ma‘o, of a reddish color.”

“The Ku-koa‘e was a temple for purification. The meaning of the word seems to have reference to a standing apart, by itself. For an anahulu, ten days, the king must not enter into any other heiau.”

“The mapele was a thatched heiau in which to ask the gods blessing on the crops. Human sacrifices were not made at this heiau; pigs only were used as offerings.”

“Any chief in rank below the king was at liberty to construct a mapele heiau, an mm 0 Lono, a kukoae, or an aka, but not a luakini. The right to build a luakini belonged to the king alone. The mapele, however, was the kind of heiau in which the chiefs and the king himself prayed most frequently.”

“The luakini was a war temple, heiau-wai-kaua, which the king, in his capacity as ruler over all, built when he was about to make war upon another independent monarch, or when he heard that some other king was about to make war against him; also when he wished to make the crops flourish he might build a luakini.”

“Luakini (was a) heiau of the highest class, a war-temple, in which human sacrifices were offered; named from a pit, lua, and kini, many; into which the mouldering remains were finally cast.” (Malo)

“It was a great undertaking for a king to build a heiau of the sort called a luakini to be accomplished only with fatigue and redness of the eyes from long and wearisome prayers and ceremonies on his part.”

The main features of a luakini, enclosed by walls or wooden fences, included the:

“Lananuumamao, or ‘anu‘u – a wooden framework obelisk that served as an oracle tower. It was usually more than twenty feet tall and contained three platforms.”

“The lowest symbolized the earth, the abode of humans, and was where offerings were placed; the middle was viewed as the space of birds and clouds and was where the high priest and his attendants conducted services …”

“… the highest platform symbolized the heavens – dwelling place of the gods – and could only be ascended by the high priest and the king. This was where the high priest received inspiration and acted as intermediary with the gods.”

“The entire structure was covered with bleached kapa. It was a highly visible component of the temple platform area and contained within a refuse or bone pit where decayed offerings and bones of victims were cast (lua pa‘u).”

“Lele — an offertorium, the altar on which offerings were left”

“Hale pahu — the drum house, enclosed except at the front”

“Hale mana — the largest, most sacred house on the heiau platform, used by the king and the officiating priest during kapu periods”

“Wai‘ea – a small house for incantations in which the ‘aha ceremony took place. Relaxing of the kapu proclaimed over the new heiau depended on obtaining an aha, a mat braided out of a rare seaweed found only in the deep ocean.”

“Coconut fiber was combined with the seaweed in braiding the ‘aha, which was used to decorate the shrine of Ku. If the seaweed was not found immediately, the search continued for months or years”

“Hale umu — the oven house for temple fires house at the entrance to the temple”

“Kipapa — a pavement of large stones for ceremonial use ‘ili’ili — a pavement of pebbles used as flooring”

“Haku ‘ōhi‘a — (Lord of the ‘ōhi‘a tree) the chief idol. Other temple images, up to twelve feet tall, were arranged in various ways within a heiau — some were in a fence configuration and others adorned the walls.” (Malo)

luakini-temple