In ancient Hawai'i, a luakini temple, or luakini heiau

Heiau

A heiau is a Hawaiian temple. Many types of heiau existed, including heiau to treat the sick , offer first fruits, offer first catch, start rain, stop rain, increase the population, ensure health of the nation, achieve success in distant voyaging, reach peace, and achieve success in war . Only the...

, was a Native Hawaiian sacred place where human and animal blood sacrifice

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts...

s were offered.

In Hawaiian mythology

Hawaiian mythology

Hawaiian mythology refers to the legends, historical tales and sayings of the ancient Hawaiian people. It is considered a variant of a more general Polynesian mythology, developing its own unique character for several centuries before about 1800. It is associated with the Hawaiian religion...

, luakini heiaus were first established by Pa'ao

Pa'ao

Paao is either a figure from a Hawaiian legend or a historical character. He is said to have been a high priest from Kahiki, specifically "Wawau" and "'Upolu." In Hawaiian prose and chant, the term "Kahiki" is applied in reference to any land outside of Hawai'i, although the linguistic root is...

, a legendary priest credited with establishing many of the rites and symbols typical of the stratified high chieftainships of the immediate pre-European-contact period. Modern archaeologists no longer believe in a historic Pa'ao, but many Native Hawaiians still believe that he was a historical figure, and often vilify him for introducing what they now see as the bloody, barbarous rites of the luakini heiau.

List of currently known or reputed luakini heiaus:

Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

:

• Puu O Mahuka
  Pu'u o Mahuka Heiau State Monument
  Puu o Mahuka Heiau State Historic Site on the North Shore of Oahu is the largest heiau on the island, covering on a hilltop overlooking Waimea Bay and Waimea Valley. Puu o Mahuka means 'Hill of Escape'...
  
  , "Hill of Escape"
• Keaiwa

Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

:

• Loaloa
  Loaloa Heiau
  Loaloa Heiau is located in Kaupo on Maui. This is one of the few remaining intact examples of a large luakini heiau . Once the center of an important cultural complex around Kaupo, oral tradition attributes the construction of the temple at about 1730 AD to Kekaulike, King of Maui, who lived at...
  
  

Big Island of Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

:

• Puukohola National Historic Site
• Mookini birthplace of Kamehameha I
  Kamehameha I
  Kamehameha I , also known as Kamehameha the Great, conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaii's independence under his rule...
  
  
• Aha'ula (now engulfed by lava)
• Keeku Heiau on Kahaluu Bay
  Kahaluu Bay
  Kahaluu Bay is a historic district and popular recreation area on the Kona coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.-Early history:This area has been populated for about 500 years, and in the 18th and 19th centuries was an important royal residence....