Tenth Lunar Month Festival
The Tenth Lunar Month festival was first held in Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1923 and has since become an annual event. Besides the traditional activities of the three days and nights, this event also includes trade fairs and performances. This festival was originally the idea of Thais who wanted to pay respect to their ancestors and offer merit. As a result, this occasion has become one of the most important and biggest events in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The tenth lunar month occurs around September during the period in which the crop yield of farms is at its greatest. In the past the local people decided to offer their products to the spirits. They believed that the time between the 1st to the 15th day of the waning moon in the tenth lunar month was when the spirits of their ancestors, particularly the ones of those who have not yet been reincarnated, will be released from the underworld. On this occasion, those still alive make merit by giving food offerings to Buddhist monks who dedicate it to the dead.
The merit making starts on the first day of the festival. Fifteen days from this day, the spirits of the dead will go back to the underworld. On the last day of the festival, another merit making ceremony is arranged and most people attend it.
On the 13th day, the villagers buy and cook food, arrange it in sets and it offer to the monks on the next day. The sets of food offerings are usually laid in a short bamboo basket and added to other items used by monks.
Five major Thai snacks are required. The first one is the “Phong,” which represents a vehicle that will take the spirits to heaven. The second is the “La,” clothing for the dead, and third, the “Kong” as an accessory. “Di Sam,” believed to be used as money by the dead is the fourth. And finally, the “Ba” snack is given to the dead as a tool for playing with during Songkran days. However, the elderly believe that another snack is needed to be put in. It is “La Loy,” which acts as a bed and a pillow for the spirits. Most of these items are dried snacks that can be kept for a long time.
After giving the food offerings to the monks, a ceremony is held to give alms to Pret, a hungry ghost with a thin, tall body. Food and snacks are put on a high post so that Pret can reach them. Then the monks pray and call the ghosts. At the end, a ceremony commonly known as Ching Pret will occur when poor villagers or children rush in and snatch the food and snacks.
Sources: http://www.highlightthailand.com/main/detail_content/The-Tenth-Lunar-Month-Festival/59.html
วันจันทร์ที่ 13 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2556
Tenth Lunar Month Festival
The Tenth Lunar Month festival was first held in Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1923 and has since become an annual event. Besides the traditional activities of the three days and nights, this event also includes trade fairs and performances. This festival was originally the idea of Thais who wanted to pay respect to their ancestors and offer merit. As a result, this occasion has become one of the most important and biggest events in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
The tenth lunar month occurs around September during the period in which the crop yield of farms is at its greatest. In the past the local people decided to offer their products to the spirits. They believed that the time between the 1st to the 15th day of the waning moon in the tenth lunar month was when the spirits of their ancestors, particularly the ones of those who have not yet been reincarnated, will be released from the underworld. On this occasion, those still alive make merit by giving food offerings to Buddhist monks who dedicate it to the dead.
The merit making starts on the first day of the festival. Fifteen days from this day, the spirits of the dead will go back to the underworld. On the last day of the festival, another merit making ceremony is arranged and most people attend it.
On the 13th day, the villagers buy and cook food, arrange it in sets and it offer to the monks on the next day. The sets of food offerings are usually laid in a short bamboo basket and added to other items used by monks.
Five major Thai snacks are required. The first one is the “Phong,” which represents a vehicle that will take the spirits to heaven. The second is the “La,” clothing for the dead, and third, the “Kong” as an accessory. “Di Sam,” believed to be used as money by the dead is the fourth. And finally, the “Ba” snack is given to the dead as a tool for playing with during Songkran days. However, the elderly believe that another snack is needed to be put in. It is “La Loy,” which acts as a bed and a pillow for the spirits. Most of these items are dried snacks that can be kept for a long time.
After giving the food offerings to the monks, a ceremony is held to give alms to Pret, a hungry ghost with a thin, tall body. Food and snacks are put on a high post so that Pret can reach them. Then the monks pray and call the ghosts. At the end, a ceremony commonly known as Ching Pret will occur when poor villagers or children rush in and snatch the food and snacks.
Sources: http://www.highlightthailand.com/main/detail_content/The-Tenth-Lunar-Month-Festival/59.html
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