Bun Luang & Phi Ta Khon Festival

photo from Thailand Land of Smiles

This is more commonly known as the Ghost Festival and I must say that I did not recognise this festival.


Also known as the Thailand Ghost Festival, the Phi Ta Khon Festival is a much anticipated and highly regarded event in Thailand. Revelers and participants will don ghost masks and costumes made of bamboo and wicker and walk through town in the annual ghost parade which is more to the point a rain making ceremony that ushers in the beginning of rainy season.


The Phi Ta Khon Festival is a well attended event that brings together making merit, having a party, and reenacting the folklore of the reincarnation of King Vessandorn, the Buddha to be. Buddhist legend has it that the townspeople were angry that the charitable King gave away two precious white elephants to another King who asked for them. They then forcibly exiled him into the forest. The angels and spirits in the forest admired his unconditional generosity so they formed a procession to escort him back to rule the town. The townspeople became overjoyed with his epiphany and so the legend was born and has since given way to the annual Phi Ta KhonFestival.

The text is not mine but from Thailand Land of Smiles.

  

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