Pattaya Buddhists, shown here on
“Buddha Hill” (Wat Khao Phra Yai), made merit and paraded with candles as the
area celebrated Makha Bucha Day, one of the holiest days on the Buddhist
calendar. This day commemorates the miraculous event when 1,250 disciples of the
Buddha, Gautama Sakayamuni, traveled to meet with the Buddha with no prearranged
agreement, at Weluwan Mahawiharn Temple in the area of Rachakhryha, India.
Staff reporters
Pattaya Buddhists made merit and paraded with candles as the area
celebrated Makha Bucha Day.
Temples throughout the city saw worshippers present offerings of meat, dried
foods and desserts to monks, light candles and incense, lay flowers on statues
of Lord Buddha and listen to sermons and meditate on one of the holiest Buddhist
holidays of the year.
Buddhists pray in front of Phra
Puttha Sukhothai Walaicholtan at Wat Khao Phra Yai.
At Chaimongkol Temple, Abbot Punya Rattanaporn presided over
an alms offering with more than 70 monks and novices. The monks performed the
water-pouring ceremony and addressed the five precepts while blessing
worshipers.
Families, couples, teenagers, and the elderly arrived at Suttawas and Nongyai
temples with prepared food, meat and desserts to offer alms. It showed many put
traditional observances above the western consumerism of Valentine’s Day.
After dark, more than 100 people flocked to Wat Khao Phra Yai, home to Pattaya’s
“Big Buddha” which is also famous for its dharma practicing center. There they
lit candles and marched three times around the temple grounds in the traditional
“wien thien” ceremony.
Mediation prayers were led by Sittichai Sittitharo, secretary to the Naklua
Monks Committee and assistant abbot of Chaimongkol Temple. He recited the
flower-presentation stanzas for the large Buddha known as Phra Puttha Sukhothai
Walaicholatharn.
People present alms to monks at Wat
Chaimongkol.
At Samakhee Prachara Temple, Abbot Sumethee Worakhun chanted
prayers with laypeople before starting the wien thien ceremony with more than
300 participants. The temple prepared flowers, incense and candles along with
chanting of Recollections of the Buddha, Dharma and the Sangha.
The holiday was also festive, with the fair at Wat Chaimongkol representative of
the festivities. The temple organized celebrations and booths selling food and
products.
The busy temples contrasted sharply with the rest of Pattaya, where non-Buddhist
tourists found bars and entertainment venues closed and dark and no alcohol to
be sold in stores.
Monks sprinkle holy water on citizens
for prosperity before going home.
Monks lead the wien thien around the
chapel in Wat Samakhee Pracharam.
Citizens present Sangkhathan at Wat
Nongyai.
Couples ring the bells at Wat
Chaimongkol Phra Aaramluang after taking part in the wien thien ceremony.
Local folks pray during the wien
thien ceremony to remember Lord Buddha.
Nuns prepare their candles for the
wien thien ceremony on Makha Bucha.
Making merit in Wat Chaimongkol on
Makha Bucha Day.
Many people take part in the wien
thien ceremony at Wat Suttawas.
Walking Street businesses shut their
bars on Makha Bucha Day.
