Category Archives: Buddhist Festivals

One of the most important events in the Thai Buddhist calendar is Makha Bucha Day (sometimes spelled Magha Puja). It takes place on the full moon day of the third lunar month which is usually late February or early March. This year it was today, 7th March 2012. Like many Thai people, I was up early this morning before the sun rose to go and visit my local temple. I took my first picture at Wat Klang in Paknam shortly before 7 a.m. There was already hundreds of local people there making merit.

There were many food stalls outside the temple selling various food such as curries and Thai desserts. However, these weren’t for the lay people to buy to take home and eat. These were pre-cooked food to give to the monks in order to make merit. Strictly speaking, to make the most merit you need to prepare the food yourself, but who has time for that these days? After choosing the food that they wanted to offer, the vendor then worked out the cost.

Once they had bought a tray load of food, they then usually squatted down, held the tray up to the level of their forehead and then said a small prayer. There was also a small Buddha shrine there which people paid respect to. Next they then added the rice and bags of curries to a long line of alms bowls. The monks weren’t actually sitting there which always seems a bit strange to me. But, I guess the Thai people felt they were still making the merit.

Once the people had made merit they made their way to an open area in front of a long narrow platform. This is where the monks from the temple were sitting waiting to start the chanting. It was a good turnout this morning. Very impressive. The chanting went on for about an hour. There was also a sermon from the abbot. People also had an opportunity to make a personal offering of essential items or food to their favourite monk. Most people would then go home though others might stay the whole day and practice meditation.

In the late afternoon or evening, people will head back to their local temples for “wien tien” which is a kind of candlelight procession around the ordination hall or chedi. I usually go to Wat Asokaram in Samut Prakan which is a very famous meditation temple in Thailand. Many people stay here overnight. They wear white clothes and practise meditation. The real “wien tien” is with candles in the evening after the chanting which usually starts at about 7.30 p.m. But many people go earlier to walk around the temple three times in a clockwise direction.

A Buddhism week is being held nationwide to mark Magha Puja, the first major Buddhist anniversary of the year. People have been invited to join the week, scheduled for 3 to 7 March 2012, with various religious activities, especially Dhamma practice. In Bangkok, the focal point of this event takes place at the Sanam Luang ceremonial ground and in the provinces at major temples. Magha Puja falls on the full-moon day of the third lunar month, coinciding with March 7 this year. Three other Buddhist holy days include Visakha Puja, Asalha Puja, and Khao Phansa, or the beginning of the Buddhist Lent.

On the full-moon day of the third lunar month, a total of 1,250 monks from different places gathered to pay homage to the Buddha, each on his own initiative, without prior notification. All of them were enlightened monks, and they had been individually ordained by the Buddha himself. Such a unique gathering had never occurred anywhere else. On the evening of that day, the Buddha gave them the Ovadha Patimokha discourse, laying down the principles of his teachings: to do good, to abstain from bad, and to purify the mind.

Buddhism and Thailand have a close relationship. The roots of the Thai nation are evident as far back as 2,000 years ago. In the same period, Buddhism came to the region and it has played an important part in Thai history ever since. The Thai nation became firmly established in present-day Thailand 700 years ago. Also seven centuries ago, it adopted the present form of Buddhism.

Out of the population of 63 million, more than 90 percent of Thais are Buddhists. So Buddhism has had a deep influence in Thai arts, traditions, learning, and the character of the people. The charm that has earned Thailand the reputation as the “Land of Smiles” undoubtedly comes from the influence of Buddhism over the people. Being interdependent, Buddhism and the Thai nation are bound together by mutual responsibility to contribute to the well-being of all people.

Source: Foreign Office, The Government Public Relations Department