Transcript Chak Par Festival 3925 Kb 03/11/14

There is a Buddhist myth that during
one Rains Retreat or "Khao Phansa"
Lord Buddha went to heaven to deliver
a sermon to his mother who died after giving
birth to Lord Buddha (then Prince Siddhartha)
and was born again in heaven. The sermon
given was said to last for the entire period
of the Rains Retreat (3 months).
Upon completing his mission
in heaven,Lord Buddha then returned
to earth and was greeted by a crowd
of his disciples and followers.
To commemorate this event,
two public festivalsare held, namely;
the "Tak Bat Devo" in the central region
and the "Chak Phra" in the south.
Both portray the event of Lord Buddha's
return to earth and annually take place
immediately after the end
of the 3-month Rains Retreat.
However, the celebration
of these two festivals
may be different in its
preparation and practices.
In other words,
Tak Bat Devo means
"offering of food to
Buddhist monks".
The celebration is an imitation of Lord Buddha's
descent from heaven. Thus, a high place
such as the hill is preferably used as a starting
point, the Golden Mount of Wat Sraket
in Bangkok is a good example of this.
But for the temple built far away from the hill,
the consecrated assembly hall (of Uposatha)
can also be used as a starting point.
When all is ready, the row of Buddhist monks,
headed by the image of a standing Buddha carried
by men representing God Indra and God Brahma,
will move slowly along the path arranged in advance.
People then offer a variety of food and fruit to the
passing monks.
The rite ends when the
last monk in the row finishes
the entire route.
Meanwhile, Chak Phra literally means
"pulling of the Buddhist monks"
and it is celebrated in many southern
provinces such as Nakhon Si Thammarat,
Pattani, Phatthalung, Songkla and Yala.
The most impressive Chak Phra festival
is on the Tapi River in Surat Thani Province.
To mark this occation, two float-pulling
ceremonies are held, one on land and
the other on water.
On land, the splendidly adorned floats are pulled
across the town by the participants of the
ceremony. At the same time, on water,
the ceremony is highlighted by a float is then
towed to the middle of the river for a religious
ceremony. On the following day, the gloat
carrying the Buddha image is towed along
the river so that people can worship and
make merit. Both land and river events are
highly colourful. The Chak Phra festival
then concludes with an exciting boat race
and a traditional game.
Miss Pacharawan Butwan
No.10
Miss Siriporn
No.24
Natsantea
Class 5/10