On a knoll above the boulders of Kee Beach stands a sacred altar of rocks, often draped with flower leis and ti-leaf offerings. The altar is dedicated to Laka, the goddess of hula. It may seem like a primal relic from the days of idols, but it's very much in use today. Often, dancers (men and women) of Hawaii's hula halau (schools) climb the cliff, bearing small gifts of flowers. In Hawaiian myths, Lohiau, a handsome chief, danced here before the fire goddess Pele; their passion became Haena, which means "the heat." Sometimes, in a revival of the old Hawaiian ways (once banned by missionaries), a mother of a newborn will deposit the umbilical cord of her infant at this sacred shrine. The site is filled with what Hawaiians call mana, or power.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Hawaii 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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