Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site

Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site, at Kawaihae on the northwestern coast of the island of Hawaiʻi, preserves the ruins of the last major ancient Hawaiian temple. Kamehameha I built the luakini, the 'Temple on the Hill of the Whale', on the advice of the priest Kapoukahi to win the favour of the war god Kūkaʻilimoku; thousands of people raised it by hand without mortar, passing stones along a human chain about 14 miles long, and it was finished in the summer of 1791. His rival Keōua Kuahuʻula, invited there for peace, was killed on landing and his body offered to dedicate it. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1962.