Buddhists offer alms at
Wat Chaimongkol Phra Aaramluang, South Pattaya.
Pattaya Mail Team
The Eastern Seaboard marked the end of three months of Buddhist
Lent with merit-making ceremonies and re-enactments of Lord Buddha’s
return to earth from heaven.
Government officials and residents participated in the traditional Tak
Bat Devo ceremonies at all local temples Oct. 19. Believers offered
alms, listened to sermons, studied dharma and received blessings in
hopes of gaining increased prosperity for them and their families.
Auk Pansaa marks the end of the three-month “rains retreat” where,
traditionally, monks remain within temple walls to avoid trampling rice
crops and to study dharma by candlelight. Things have progressed since
the tradition began, but its roots remain pure in spirit. Buddhists
welcome the monks back to society with presentations of meats and
desserts.
Just outside Pattaya, at Sattahip Temple, Abbot Wibulthummabaan led 110
monks and eight novices in a parade through Sattahip Market while
District Chief Phawat Lertmukda joined 1,000 area residents making
offerings of rice and dried food.
Citizens and Thai and
foreign tourists pay their respects to Lord Buddha and make merit at Wat
Khao Phra Yai on Pratamnak Hill.
In Plutaluang, Anat Praphangkaro, abbot at Khao
Baisri Temple, led 16 monks and 28 novices in a reenactment of Buddha’s
return by descending from the hilltop. Members of the general public
joined in by dressing as angels, lords and “yomaban,” or guardians of
hell.
Tak Bat Devo, derived from the Sanskrit word “Devorohana,” is celebrated
at the same time as Auk Pansaa, the end of Buddhist Lent. Almost always
centered around a temple on a hillside, monks who’ve been in their
“rains retreat” for three months emerged in a procession of golden gowns
down the hill depicting the path Buddha took down a “celestial stairway”
made of silver, gold and crystal.
According to ancient tales, Buddha returned to his home in Kapilavastu
seven years after achieving Nirvana and becoming the “Enlightened One.”
At the start of Lent that year, in remembrance of his mother, Buddha
ascended to the heavens to deliver a sermon to his mother. There he
resided for three months.
On the first day of the waxing moon of the eleventh lunar month Buddha
returned to throngs of angels, disciples and followers who received him
with offerings of food and other sacred items. Followers repeated his
return in following years during a ceremony that has come to represent
the Buddhist belief in reincarnation as much as its historical
significance.
Pattaya Buddhists present
rice during Auk Pansaa at Wat Bhodhisamphan.
Sattahip Mayor Phawat
Lertmukda (2nd right) leads Sattahip citizens to make merit during Auk
Pansaa.
The Tak Bat Devo ceremony is
another tradition that families can do good by making merit together.
‘Khao Tom Hang’ or ‘Luk
Yon’, a dish that Buddhists present to monks during Auk Pansaa.
Yomaban dressed in red
loincloth hold files and pens noting down names of those who had
attended the Tak Bat Devo ceremony at Wat Khao Baisri, Sattahip.
