Thursday, September 25, 2014

Yee Peng Festival

Hanging Lanterns (Kome)

According to northern Thailand or Lanna tradition, each month is counted two months earlier than that in the Central Plain region. This then makes the 12th month in the Central Plain region equivalent to the second (Yee) month (Peng) in the Lanna time frame. Northerners usually enjoy the Yee Peng month very much because it is the festival of the lanterns.

During the Rattanakosin (Bangkok) era, especially when King Mongkut (Rama IV) reigned over the kingdom, the Brahmin ceremony was adopted along with Buddhist ceremonies. The ceremony would begin during the evening with chanting of prayers. The lanterns would then be left overnight until the early morning meal of the monks. This sacred ceremony is presided over by ten high ranking monks.
Dating back to ancient days, the decorative ceremony of lanterns was based on Brahmin beliefs or Brahminism. At this ceremony the people of long ago paid respect by worshipping three different gods. These gods were Pra I-Suan, Pra Narai, and Pra Prom. For this reverent ceremony, the candles used to light up the lantern were made from cow's fat or wax that came from within the royal gates of the reigning monarch. Usually these candles were made by a Brahmin priest, and of course, the process of making the candles strictly followed the requirements of a Brahmin ceremony.
Formerly, lantern decorations were commonly seen hanging on all mansions in the grand palace. The great numbers and the beauty of the lanterns reflected the status of the royal family members. (Next to the king, the titles of royalty were "Jow Fah", "Pra Ong Jow", "Mom Jow", "Mom Rajawong" and "Mom Luang"). There were also three classifications of lanterns, which were the Kome Chai, Kome Pra-Tiab, and Kome Boriwan.
Up until the present time, a tradition developed wherein people sacrifice their time to design and to assemble various kinds of strong, beautiful, and creative lanterns. The worshippers donated the lanterns to the temples asking their wishes to be fulfilled. Usually the person would say a prayer, requesting his desire to be a sharp, brighter, and a more clever person in the future. This belief is based on the comparison that a bright light would lead a person out of his present darkness into a lustrous future.
As mentioned earlier, these lanterns were devoted to the three different gods. The lanterns were also presented to high ranking officials and wealthy people. It is then interesting to understand why Komes were so presentable and how these lanterns are made. The main structure of these lanterns are usually made with bamboo and covered with a coarse palm paper or cloth. Inside, a bamboo cylinder was necessary to protect the possible burning of the paper since altogether 24 candles were required to light up the lantern. This large number of candles made illumination possible for about three hours. Candles were not always used to light these lanterns. Oils such as sesame seed, castor, or coconut oils were also used. The creation of these lanterns is open for the public to see and study how they are made at Chiang Inn Plaza during this festival.
People thought that lanterns could only be lit during Buddhist holidays or ceremonies. But actually, lanterns can be lit every evening or night. These lanterns can be hung on gates, fences, doors, windows, or the roof, or any place an individual wants to adorn with these delightful creations.
There have been four different purposes for the northern Thais to hang lanterns. They are for beauty, to pay respect to Buddha images, to make one's home or mansion brighter, and for propitious purposes.

Nowadays, there are four traditional Komes in the north that attract visitors every year. They are 1) Kome Thuea (carrying lantern) or Kome Gratai (a rabbit's ear), 2) Kome Kwaen (hanging lantern), 3) Kome Paad (revolving lantern), and 4) Kome Loy (hot air floating lantern).
A Kome Thuea or Kome Gratai has a lighted candle inside. A Buddhist believer will carry it along during the Yee Peng Parade. When the parade is over, the worshippers will take the lanterns and decorate the temples, vihara, and other buildings. If there are other celebrations other than the Yee Peng Festival, beautifully made lanterns are used to decorate a stage. Usually, a lantern shaped as a lotus is used to pay respect and the citizens will pray to the Buddha images and make offerings to the monks.

Kome Kwaen are also offered to pay respect and prayers to Buddha images are made. There are several shapes of this certain lantern. They are the Baat Pra (Alms bowl), Dow (Star), Ta Gra (Basket), and Tammajak (the wheel of law which means to have a thorough knowledge about religious discourses). The Buddhists will hang these lanterns around a temple, vihara, alms-house, sala, or house.

The Kome Paad is an interesting lantern since it revolves on an axis. This is done with the aide of the heat from the candle's smoke. In order to make it revolve, the candle is placed inside the lantern where little gadgets take the energy from the smoke and then revolves. The lantern is shaped like a circle, almost like the earth. Usually there are pictures glued on, such as the 12 characters of the horoscope. This revolving lantern will give the effect of shadow puppets. Kome Paad can only be seen during the Yee Peng Festival. It is placed in the temple gates and is not allowed to be moved from one place to another.

The Kome Loy is a lantern that is similar to a hot-air-balloon. It is also quite similar to that of a normal lantern except it does not require 24 candles for illumination. Because the air lantern must rise up to float in the air, it must be lightweight, therefore, it does not have a bamboo cylinder inside. In order to send the lantern into the air, it requires a method to heat the air. This is done by tying a small bowl underneath the open section of the lantern. Oil is then placed into the bowl along with a cotton cloth. As the oil catches fire and commences burning, the hot air quickly travels into the lantern and it soon rises into the air.
It is believed that by sending off these lanterns an individual can send one's sins and bad luck into the air. Usually before the lantern soars into the sky, an individual will pray that one's sin or bad luck will be transported on the lantern and floated away high into the sky. Sometimes an address is left inside. The purpose of this is when the lantern come back down to the ground, and individual can follow an address and seek for money from whomever wrote the address. Or even sometimes, the maker will put some money inside the lantern. The purpose of the hot air lantern is to worship and pay respect to the Phra Ged Kaew Ju La Manee. An old legend tells that during war, these lanterns were sent into enemy territory and exploded.

Yee Peng Festival

Date : November 8 - 11, 2011

Venue : at Chang Klan Road, Chiang Mai Night Bazar, Muang District, Chiang Mai Province

Activities :

Enjoying traditional performance in lanna style and floating lantern (Yee Peng) contest, joining a demonstration of how to make krathongs and Yee Peng lanterns

For More Details :

TAT Chiang Mai Office Tel. +66 5324 8604, +66 5324 8607

TAT Call Center 1672

From : http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com

Chiang Mai Flower Festival

2014 Chiang Mai Flower Festival

For 2014, the Chiang Mai Flower festival is Friday-Sunday, 7 to 9 February 2014. For details will follow when they become available

Friday, 06 February to Sunday, 08 February 2015 (most likely)

Chiang Mai, the Rose of the North

Chiang Mai, Thailand, is known as the Rose of the North, but it really blooms into life in early February, towards the end of the cool season. Every year on the first weekend of February, the Chiang Mai Flower Festival exhibitions open. The flower beds in public gardens and other places are especially beautiful at this time of year. Everywhere the tourist will find displays of yellow and white chrysanthemums, and the Damask Rose, a variety found only in Chiang Mai. Also, the pink and purple Dendrobium orchids, and the lovely yellow Daoruang. The real focus of this Chiang Mai festival, however, is the public garden of Suan Buak Haad on the south-western corner of the moat. The police close off the road next to the moat all around the park, and allow vendors of plants, Thailand flowers, Thailand orchids and garden decorations to set up their stalls. This is probably the nicest corner of the moat, well supplied with shade trees, and a good place to spend an hour or two looking at what is on offer.

Suan Buak Haad City Park

From here it is possible to walk into Suan Buak Haad itself. This is a very pleasant space at any time, with formal gardens arranged around a series of pools and bridges. There is a children’s play area, and various places where refreshments are available. For the Flower Festival the park is completely transformed, with special displays of flowers, miniature trees and the famous local orchids, all set out for the judges to choose the best of each species. There are also displays by landscape specialists, featuring waterfalls, patios and various schemes of garden decoration. In addition there are stands representing gardens from neighboring countries, and stands selling local products..

Flower Festival Parade

In some ways this is the best part of the Flower Festival. The Flower Festival Parade starts on Saturday morning. The parade lines up along Charoen Muang Road, all the way up from the Nawarat Bridge to the train station. At 8am the parade begins to move. After passing the viewing stand the parade moves up Tha Pae Road to Tha Pae Gate and then turns left and follows the moat round to Suan Buak Haad. The parade moves very slowly, and stops frequently, so there is plenty of opportunity to take photographs of the gaily decorated floats, pretty girls, and colorful hill tribe people in their costumes. At these stops dancers in traditional costumes perform Thai dances. Those taking part in the parade hand out roses to the spectators lining the road.

Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival

Most of the girls perched on top of the gaily decorated floats and carriages are candidates for the Miss Chiang Mai Flower Festival competition. By late afternoon the really serious part of the festival begins – choosing the Chiang Mai Flower Festival Queen. Loud rock music and a copious supply of beer help in the deliberations. The party goes on well into the evening until the Flower Festival Queen is chosen. The atmosphere here is relaxed and cheerful, and at this time of the year the nights are still cool and breezy, making for a very pleasant ambience.

Other Chiang Mai Floral Attractions

Those coming to Chiang Mai for the Flower Festival can also combine this popular spectacle with a visit to other places of horticultural interest.

Queen Sikrit Botanical Garden

Occupying 2,600 acres, Queen Sikrit Botanical Gardencan be found up in the mountains on the Mae Sa road about 20 kilometers out of town. This garden was founded in 1992 to collect and conserve rare species of plants. It now has a glasshouse complex, a natural history museum, and a number of nature trails through the forest. The exhibits are arranged by both species and habitat. Travel around the garden is by car or by the transport provided, but motorcycles are not allowed.

Orchid Gardens around Chiang Mai

There are several orchid gardens lower down on the Mae Sa road, before the Queen Sikrit Botanical Garden. Most hotels can arrange trips to these gardens. There are more than 400 types of orchids naturally occurring near Chiang Mai and growers are constantly hybridizing new varieties. The growers can advise on exporting orchids from Thailand.

Ratchapruek Royal Park, Chiang Mai

Ratchaphruek Royal Park is situated about 20 kilometers south west of Chiang Mai on the Canal Road. It was the site of a famous horticultural exposition called Royal Flora, held in 2007, and most of the exhibits are still in place. The next Royal Flora will be held between November 9, 2011 and February 5, 2012.

Dokmai Gardens, Chiang Mai

Dokmai Gardens is a private botanical garden owned by Eric Danell and his wife. They are a mine of information for those wishing to start their own tropical garden. There is a small restaurant on site. This garden is situated about 5 kilometers from Ratchaphruek Royal Park. Eric also hosts a tropical gardening blog.

Tweechol Botanic Garden, Chiang Mai

Tweechol Botanic Garden is more than a garden as it has its own petting zoo, rice paddy fields, organic farm, a riding arena, camping facilities and a museum onsite. Some local people find that this is one of the best botanical gardens to visit. Tweeechol is on on the Doi Saket Road. You won’t be disappointed.

From : http://chiangmaibest.com/chiang-mai-flower-festival/

Makha Bucha day

There are several Buddhist days that are of importance in the Thai year. Makha Bucha Day is one of these which occurs in February or March. This year (2014) it is on February 14th.

The Buddhist calendar is a lunar one, and the third lunar month is known in the Thai as Makha (from the Pali word Māgha); Bucha is also a Thai word (from the Pali word Pūjā), meaning “to venerate” or “to honor”. As such, Makha Bucha Day is to honor the Buddha and his teachings which he delivered on the full moon day of the third lunar month.

So why is Makha Bucha day celebrated?

45 years before the Buddhist era, on the full moon day of the 3rd lunar month, and exactly 9 full months after Lord Buddha achieved Enlightenment, 4 special things happened:
Makha Bucha day commemorates Buddha teaching his followers.

Makha Bucha day commemorates Buddha teaching his followers.

1) 1,250 Sangha followers, came to see the Lord Buddha at Wat Veḷuvana in Northern India, without any schedule.

2) All of them were “Arhantas’, the Enlightened One, and all of them were ordained by the Buddha himself.

3) The Buddha gave an important teaching to the followers on the principles of the Buddhism, called “The Ovadhapatimokha”. Those principles are: To cease from all evil; to do what is good; to cleanse one’s mind.

4) It was a full moon day which made it as special day to start with.

On the same day 44 years later another important event happened. It was this day that the Buddha decided to ‘Parinibbhana’, nirvana, leave the mind from the body (or die) which he did 3 months after that day on the full moon day of the six lunar month (This day is known as ‘Visakha Bucha Day’).

As a Buddhist country Makha Bucha days is an important day in the Thai calendar and is respected in a number of ways.

How is Makha Bucha Day Celebrated?

In Thailand people observe the following activities if Makha Bucha day:

1) Make merit by going to temples for special observances and join in the other Buddhist activities.

2) Keeping the five precepts, including abstinence from alcoholic drinks (this is why most bars are closed) and all kinds of immoral acts.

3) Offer food to the monks and novices (in the alm bowl).

4) Observe the eight precepts, practice of meditation and mental discipline, stay in the temple, wearing white robes, for a number of days.

5) Attend an evening Candle Light Procession around the Ubosot (Ordination Hall). Most temples will be holding this.

From : Bangkok Tour with Expique

Visalia Pucha Day

VISAKHA BUCHA (Vesak) means the worship of the Buddha on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month. It usually falls in May. In the case of a year with an extra eighth lunar month--Adhikamasa (there are 13 full moons in that year)-- the Visakha Bucha Day falls on the full moon day of the seventh lunar month.

BIRTH-ENLIGHTENMENT-PASSING AWAY
The Vesak full moon day (The full moon day of Sixth lunar month)

Visakha Bucha Day is one of the most important days in Buddhism because of three important incidents in the life of The Buddha, i.e. the birth, the enlightenment and the passing away, miraculously fall on the same month and date, the Vesak full moon day. .So each year, Buddhists throughout the world gather together to perform the worship to recollect the wisdom, purity and compassion of the Buddha.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Buddha was a king by birth. His clan name was Gotama. He was born in Sakya Kingdom, eighty years before the Buddhist Era (around 2625 year ago), at Lumbini Park (now called Rummindel, in Nepal, north of India), in Madhayama Pradesa, located between Kapilavastu, capital of the Sakya Kingdom and Devadaha, capital of the Koliya Kingdom, on Friday, the Vesak full moon day in the year of the dog.

Prince Siddhatha (the Buddha's personal name) was the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Sirimahamaya. On his birthday, Queen Sirimahamaya who was pregnant, wanted to pay a visit to Devadaha wich was her native country.

In the morning of the Vesak Full moon day, the Queen left Kapilavastu on a visit to Devadaha. Approaching a lovely park of Sals trees called Lumbini, located between the two capitals but nearer to Devadaha, the Queen wanted to visit the park and when she arrived at a Sal tree she started contractions and gave birth to a son there. When the Kings of Kapilavastu and Devadaha learned this, they were very happy and arranged a procession back to Kapilavastu.

Prince Siddhatta was brought up in the midst of luxury, led the happy life of a privileged youth and married at the age of 16 to Princess Yasodhara or Bimba who bore him a son, Rahula.

He discontened and took on the life of a wandering ascetic a the bank of the Anoma River. He was then 29.

He studied the mystic practices of the foremost Brahmin ascetics and realized that such practices were not the way to enlightenment. He went on his own way applying the reflective thought of conscious meditation to a rational simple life of moderation.

At the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment at Uruvelasenanigama subdistrict, Magadha State, (nowadays, located in the area of Buddha Kaya, Bihar State, India), on Wednesday, the Vesak Full moon day, the year of the cock, forty five years before the Buddhist Era.

The Dhamma discovered by the Buddha was Ariyasacca or the Four Noble Truths, namely:

The Noble Truth of Suffering
The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
The Noble Truth of the Extinction of Suffering
The Noble Truth of the Path leading to the Extinction of Suffering

After having attained Enlightenment, the Buddha wandered from place to place teaching his discoveries to people who are accessible to instruction, helping large numbers of them achieve various levels of spiritual attainment. He sent his followers to spread Buddhism in capitals, cities and upcountry, until Buddhism was firmly established and widely spread.

The Buddha passed away on Tuesday, the Vesak full moon day in the year of the small snake under the two Sal trees in the Sala Grove of the Mallas in Kusinara, capital of the Malla State, (nowadays located in Kusinagara of Uttrarapradesa, India) at the age of eighty (around 2545 years ago).

The performance of the rituals on Visakha Bucha day had been continuously observed in Jambudavipa or India, the motherland of Buddhism, for a long time before Buddhism spread to Sri Lanka and Thailand. There, the Visakha worship has been continually observed to the present day.

In Thailand, Visakha Bucha observance began during the Sukhuthai period (around 700 years ago), because of the close religious relations between Thailand and Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan monks came to propagate Buddhism in Thailand and were highly respected. Thai monks also went to study in Sri Lanka. It's believed that, those monks introduced this ceremony to the King and people at that time.

From : http://www.thaicongenvancouver.org/visakhabucha.htm