The spirits come back to life in this spectacular festival celebrated in Thailand every July where revellers don ornate grinning spirit masks and remember the journey of the Buddha for three days
Photo from e-marginalia
There is an amazing festival called Phi Ta Khon happening in Thailand next week, as it does every July. Sadly I won’t be able to attend as I’ll be in Malaysia, but I would dearly love to see this – a sort of Thai Halloween which celebrates the story of the Buddha returning from a long journey and the celebrations being so loud they wakened the dead who joined in the festivities. The festival is celebrated with spectacular spirit masks and ghostly clothing – as you can imagine, the kids love it. The festival is centred around the town of Loei in northern Thailand.
Here’s some info from Thailand.com, who have an excellent overview of the festival’s origins and description of the different rites that are celebrated over three days:
Phi Ta Khon is held with the arrival of the sixth or seventh lunar month. Young male villagers prepare their ghostly attire and masks, while children roam around town playing tricks. Sheets or blankets are sewn together to look like shrouds while traditional wooden bamboo containers used to store sticky rice (huad), are creatively fashioned into bizarre hats. The huge masks are carved from the bases of coconut trees. The spirit masks are the integral part of the celebrations, which last for three consecutive days.
The first day is marked by a masked procession, accompanied by rejoicing, music and dancing. On the second day, the villagers dance their way to the temple and fire off bamboo rockets to signal the end of the procession. Along the way, they tease onlookers as they accompany a sacred image of the Buddha through the village streets. Monks recite the story of the Buddha’s last incarnation before attaining enlightenment. [Read more]
Check out the great first person report and photos at e-Marginalia by Laura Siciliano and this year’s festival details at ThailandGrandFestival.com, plus also check out the great collection of photos available through Google Images.
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