Candle Festival

Candle Festival

Ubon Ratchathani

The Candle Festival ushers in the start of Buddhist Lent in Thailand, also called the Buddhist Rains Retreat. It begins on the day of khao phansa (literally, “entering the rainy season”) and lasts for three lunar months. This year, it began on July 12.

The candle festival tradition goes back to an event in the Buddha's life: Seeing that monks wandering outside the temple compound during the rainy season might easily step on newly planted crops or accidentally kill insects, he proclaimed that they should study and meditate within the monasteries instead. They must spend the night in the same temple each day during the three-month period, which restricts their movements to collect alms, so Buddhists bring them gifts of food and other necessities of daily life. In earlier times, candles were important gifts, since they were the primary source of indoor light. The practice of making large, ornate candle sculptures depicting stories from the Buddha’s life evolved from this practice.

The most famous candle festival in Thailand takes place in Ubon Ratchathani in northeastern Thailand. The sculptures are hard to photograph because of their size, the plethora of figures on each one, and the complexity of detail. My knowledge of Buddhist stories is essentially nil, so I can’t identify the figures or events, but maybe the photos will give you an idea of the variety of the sculptures and the skill of the artists who carve them.  Here are two parts of an entourage led by a demon; he is followed by what appears to be a pack of slave drivers. 

The sculpture below features horses and chariots:

And here is one headed by an eagle leading a whole menagerie of mythical and realistic animals:

 The above pictures were taken the night before the parade, “backstage,” where floats and marchers were lined up along several streets, patiently waiting for instructions. Here are some pictures taken during the parade the next day.  The two below are parts of a sculpture that made great use of color: 

And another that uses a range of colors:

Besides the sheer size and complexity of the candle sculptures and the incredible attention to detail, what struck me most was how similar the images are from one candle to the next. That is, the demons on one candle have the same features as the demons on the next one; the horses, women in armor, men in helmets, Buddha images and other figures all look very much alike -- at least, to my outsider's eye.

Of course, the parade didn't consist solely of candle sculptures. There were many dancers, musicians, and other performers who waited with admirable fortitude in the nearly 100-degree heat for their group to move ahead. Here is a short video to show you what I mean -- these dancers had been waiting for perhaps 20 minutes, but kept their smiles beautifully when the procession started to move forward again:

The dancers in the video exemplify the pride that Thais take in maintaining their cultural traditions and sharing them with others. This is true not only of adults but of students as well -- at least, the students at both my schools participate willingly and competently in every traditional event or performance that comes along. I see it as one more facet of the collectivist culture.

Besides parades to display the candles, which are then presented to the temple, the festival in Ubon Ratchathani featured street markets, carnival rides, and vendors hawking a large variety of wares. My PC volunteer friends and I were stopped numerous times by gaggles of students wanting to interview us – apparently most of the local English teachers had given the same assignment for the weekend, because all the students asked the same questions. Here is one of our group being interviewed:

Just for giggles, a friend and I rode the ferris wheel. Here's a picture I took from my seat, and one of the sunset as seen from the top of the ride. 

I guess you had to be there . . .

 

The Ubon Ratchathani Candle Festival deserves its reputation as one of the premier festivals in Thailand.

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P.S. Walking home from school after writing this post, I was caught in a downpour and spent about 20 minutes under an awning waiting for the rain to subside. Also under the awning, for the same reason, were a woman who works at the temple next to the school, several construction workers who are renovating a building, and a few monks. After a few minutes, I thought I smelled incense. Then, glancing around the group, I realized: No, that monk is smoking weed. Ah, Thailand!