Located in Kawaihae, about 30 miles north of Kailua-Kona off Route 270, Pu'ukohola Heiau (or "Heiau on the Hill of the Whale") makes an attractive daytrip from Kailua and an educational foray into traditional Hawaiian practices and legend. The views from the windswept Heiau are also inspiring. The Pu'ukohola Heiau holds a central place in Hawaiian history. Though the sacredness of the spot fades into the mists of time, it was in 1791 that a kahuna (a high Hawaiian priest) told Kamehameha, then only a local chief, to build a new temple at this site and dedicate it to the war god. Only then, the kahuna prophesized, could Kamehameha conquer all of the Hawaiian Islands.
The young Kamehameha did as he was bid, and invited his cousin and rival on the Big Island, Chief Keoua, to the Heiau's dedication, where he was promptly cut down and offered in sacrifice. Within three years Kamehameha had brought most of the islands under his rule.
Today, the Heiau is not of its former imposing grandeur. The large three-tiered layout is still discernable but the thatched homes of the ruling chief and his priests are gone, as are the large wooden images that at one time would have graced the Heiau's open platform. But the spot can still impress with its layers of lava rock, at places stacked 15 to 20 feet high. More impressive still is the thought that no mortar was used in its construction. The long terraced stone steps that grace the front of the Heiau facing the open sea given an idea of its once striking dimensions.
The Heiau and the surrounding land is today a registered National Historical Site, and as such is free, and offers the added benefit of park rangers giving talks on the site's history and attending legends, and on Hawaiian culture in general. The park covers a total of over 85 acres and includes, along with Pu'ukohola, two other Heiaus, one of which is now submerged in the waters offshore.
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