Mookini Heiau is one of the oldest historical sites in Hawaii and among its most sacred.
Mookini means "many lineages" or "many Moo" in the
Hawaiian Language.
Moo are large reptile goddesses honored by Hawaiians since before the time of Paao. This
heiau is a living spiritual temple and not just an historic artifact of the Hawaiian culture. Oral histories indicate the original temple on the site may be 1500 years old: the
genealogy chant of the
heiau's
kahuna tells of
Kuamo'o Mo'okini arriving here in 480, not from
Samoa or
Tahiti, but from the
Persian Gulf of
Middle East. Evidence suggests the current temple was built on the site of this smaller older one by
Paao, who brought the
Hawaiian Religion to the islands sometime between 1100 and 1300 A.D. The current site includes the remains of the heiau measuring 250' x 130' with an open stone paved court enclosed by 20'-high stone walls, and the sacrificial stone. The heiau is constructed of stones that are said to have been passed from hand to hand from the
Pololū Valley, over away. One tradition states that the heiau was completed by the
menehune (mythical Hawai'ian little people) in one night. For centuries a strict set of rules (
kapu) were enforced at the heiau. It was a closed heiau reserved exclusively for the
Alii Nui (the highest chiefs) for praying and offering
human sacrifices, primarily to the war god
Kū. In
Kohala Mookini Heiau was the focus of religious life and order. In November 1978 Kahuna Nui
Leimomi Mookini Lum rededicated the Mookini
Luakini to the "Children of the Land" (
kama aina) and lifted the restrictive kapu. In doing this she made the site safe for all persons to enter the heiau and created a place of learning for future generations to discover the past. Her family has been taking care of the temple for centuries. A few hundred yards away is
Kamehameha Akahi ʻĀina Hānau, the birthplace of
Kamehameha the Great. He is said to have been born here in 1758 as
Halley's Comet passed overhead. The entrance to the site is on the south side. A rock is said to mark the precise place of the birth of Kamehameha. ==Location==