Royal Ploughing Ceremony - May 13

In the Royal Ploughing Ceremony on the 13th of May two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and they plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cutgrass, water and rice whisky.

Depending on what the oxen eat, court soothsayers make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest.

Sometimes the monarch himself has taken part in the ceremony!! After the Ceremony, onlookers swarm the field to gather the seed, which is believed to be auspicious. 

Note: this text and photo is from Wikipedia and from Thailand Travel Online

          

Chiang Mai City Pillar Ceremony, or Inthakhin Ceremony

I did find some text about the Inthakhin Ceremony, this is an extract -   It is believed that the ceremony will bring good blessings to both participants and Chiang Mai City, and that the rains will fall in to bring a bountiful harvest.


The blessings take placefrom May 10th until the 16th at the Wat Chedi Luang - a temple with a lot of history.


I hope that the company will allow me to travel to Chiang Mai to witness this celebration - but i doubt it...

Yasothon Bun Bangfai Festival Rocket Festival

Information from the TAT website thank you -  
It is possible to hire a car at the airport and drive northwest on Highway 23 to Yasothon.The town’s hotels are full during this short festival and hotels will double their rates to cash in on the festival’s popularity. There are also hotels in Roi-et, 60 km northwest of Yasothon, while some visitors may decide to stay in Ubon and embark on a daytrip returning after sunset.

Then I read about a Mud Festival after the Rockets are fired......

Magic moments in Khmer heritage

What a magical spectacle - there is information regarding this event on the Tourism in Thailand website.


There is a way to calculate when this will happen - if I can find out without doing it I will - but this reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - but this is REAL.   The sunlight passes through 15 doorways to achieve this effect and only 4 times a year!!!!\


"These spectacular solar-related events, that also bear religious significance in the Hindu faithful, span just three days –- 2, 3 and 4 April. The second day is considered the most auspicious as the sun is visible dead centre of the outer doorway of this Khmer Hindu temple. Sun rays cast light through 15 aligned doorways that span 75 metres of the temple’s inner courtyard illuminating a revered lingam deep in the main sanctuary."

"Astrologers have also predicted that an extraordinary astro-archaeological phenomenon will occur at sunset (17.17 hrs) during the March 5-7 period and again at sunrise (06.00 hrs.) during the April 2 - 4 period this year."

The date to do this is the 2nd to the 4th of April, so I have missed it this year so next year I will try to put this in the diary.  It is known as the "Ascent of the Mountain Annual Festival of the "Festival of the Thousand year Miracle of the Phanom Rung Grand Shrine." 

Poi Sang Long ceremony in Mae Hong Son

This Ceremony is a Buddhist novice ordination ceremony.  Boys between 7 and 14 study the Buddhist doctrine which will in turn give them merit - the origins of the festival lie in Buddhist legend.

The ceremony is a wonderful spectacle of colours and youth - it lasts for a period of 4 days 31 March until the 3rd of April.  

Specific information regarding the planning can be found on the TAT website.

This text is an from the TAT: 

“Rup Sang Long Day”, the first day of the ceremony – 31 March 2009
The first day of the ceremony day begins with the boys having their hair shaved off by parents and relatives. They are then bathed and anointed with consecrated waters and dressed in brightly coloured costumes. By the end of this process, the boys are now known as Sang Long or Luuk Kaew – precious gems.

“Kham Kaek Day”, the second day – 1 April 2009. “Kham Kaek Day” falls on Wednesday, 1 April 2009. On this day, relatives, friends and guests stop by the house of the Sang Long host family in order to congratulate the family and present alms.

“Hae Krua Lu Day”, the third day – 2 April 2009. On the third day, “Hae Krua Lu Day”, the grand colourful procession is held in the morning. Well-attended by family members and individuals of importance in Mae Hong Son’s Shan community, the procession of the Sang Long features handmade floats, offerings for the temple, traditional dances. The procession starts out from Chong Kham and Chong Klang Temple in the heart of the city before it moves along the main streets of town and out to the temples.

“Kham Sang Day”, the fourth day – 2 April 2009 
The procession once again proceeds through the town and the Sang Long are escorted to Chong Kham and Chong Klang Temple for the formal ordination ceremony.