Songhla At The Temple

Songhla, the New Year celebration, was originally based on a lunar calendar and celebrated the coming of spring, the time for planting and the end of the winter drought. The day was fixed at April 13th a few hundred years ago. There is much revelry (as in the post below), but, since the day represents Buddha's entry into nirvana, there is much religious ceremonial activity through this holiday as well. Monks take buddha icons out of the temples and display them on the temple grounds, where the faithful make offerings and say personal prayers.

It is also a fund raiser for the temples. One can buy sheets of gold leaf, incense, flowers and prayer totems to be used as meritorious offerings. The gold leaf is ceremoniously applied to the reliquaries by worshippers. Some statues are so covered in gold leaf that their images are distorted.



A took these pictures the day before Songhla as the monks in our nearby wat were preparing the grounds for weekend worshipers.

Below is a sand mound with prayer flags created especially for the holiday. One can purchase a colorful prayer totem, walk up the sand steps, place it and make a silent prayer, or ask for merit in the next reincarnation. (A bought a totem and walked the steps. She hasn't said what she asked for - maybe for me to stop spending so much time on this blog.)



Note the cell phone up to the ear of the monk in the background of the picture below. It is somewhat jarring to see modern technology mixed into a scene of antiquity. But then... ?