At the start of this "Lenten" period, it is traditional in preparation for the rainy season for the devout to donate candles to the monks to dispel gloom in their quarters and elsewhere within the wat. The candle festival was originated in Isaan to celebrate that tradition and to create an attraction for tourists. The candle festival is most elaborate in Ubon Ratchathani, the capital of the province that includes Khemmarat. During the festival, giant candles are paraded through town, each representing a local temple, district or other institution. The more elaborate versions are accompanied by scenes of Hindu and Buddhist mythology sculpted in wood or plaster and coated with wax. The candles are never burned.
We didn't make it to Ubon for its festival (too long a trip, too many people, too hot), but got to see our own version of a candle festival close to home here in Khemmarat. Candles were prepared for each of the five temples in the Khemmarat area. In the weeks leading up to the festival, George tracked progress of four of those candle displays.
Wat Neua (North)
This wat, at the north end of town, had the simplest candle in town.
Wat Glaang (Middle)
This wat, between Wat Neua and Wat Pho, prepared a more elaborate display, and this is the candle display on which we saw the most work.
One day we saw young monks pushing needles into the candle, tracing patterns that had been drawn on paper. We assume the tracks they were making in the candle would be used by the carver.
This is the wat with which we are the most familiar; it's by the river at the end of the main street through town. It's very close to the riverside pavilion where George spends many hours reading and meeting people. We saw several days of candle carving and then saw no more on-site work.
We gave this young man a copy of one of the pictures above; he climbed down to see it and was pleased with it.
After seeing no progress for almost a week, we discovered these pieces on the temple grounds near the candle.
Wat Bpaa
Wat Bpaa is the home of the Monday Market and the temple where we witnessed the ordination of a monk last year. It is also just outside the east entrance to Khemmarat Pittayakom. It's the farthest from where we live so we don't get there very often, but we heard that the carver was working on the candle display near the primary school on the river, so George took a walk there. It was an amazing thing to see!
This is the man who does all that carving. We were told it takes him two months -- and we find that easy to believe!
Saturday (July 20) - Night Market in Khemmarat
The Saturday night before the candle festival, there was a Night Market in Khemmarat and the candles were put on display. (George realized while putting this blog post together that he didn't see the Wat Pho candle on Saturday evening, but readers will have a chance to see it later in this post.)
Wat Neua
Wat Glaaang
Wat Bpaa
Here are Somchai, Head of the Khemmarat Pittayakom Art Department, and the carver of the Wat Bpaa display:
The Night Market had the candles to see, but also food to eat, things to buy, entertainment, and a beauty contest. And the Night Market is always a good place to meet friends.
That's our dear friend Wachinee and Mary in the middle, Wachinee's mother Kid (second from right), and Baan Nong Phue teacher and good friend Win (far right). The two young farang women on the left are current volunteers at Baan Nong Phue from France.
Here are Mary and the French volunteers with some little girls waiting to do their chicken routine on stage.
The picture below was taken by my new Thai friend Watcharin, who is an excellent photographer and said I could use this colorful photo.
We found these students from Khemmarat Pittayakom selling buttons and key chains honoring the town of Khemmarat and the school. The button with "43" on it is in honor of Khemmarat Pittayakom's 43rd anniversary this year. The buttons with a red heart say "I love Khemmarat" in Thai. The proceeds go to the school. Mary bought a sample of all the merchandise and wanted to buy more at school later in the week but the students had sold out.
Monday (July 22) - The Procession
On Monday morning, the candles were brought to Don Phu Ta Park (very close to where we live) and students from the various schools supporting the temples gathered in beautiful costumes.
Here are the floats as they looked that morning. This is the float from Wat Neua.
The photos below are of the float from Wat Pho. Mary is pictured below with a teacher and a group of students from Khemmarat Pittayakom. All the KP students participating that day were 10th graders. One group of students was representing the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and wore costumes from the various ASEAN countries.
The next photos are of floats from temples that we had not visited.
There were some formalities before the procession started. We believe donations were made to various schools participating. Here Khemmarat Mayor Latda and (we believe) our area's Member of Parliament Pisit Santapun make a presentation to Khemmarat Pittayakom's Director Paijit.
Each float was followed by students from the supporting school performing dances and routines they had been practicing for days. [NOTE that there are embedded video segments below. They are each short -- almost all less than 30 seconds -- and intended simply to give the reader of sense of the performances. They do not substitute for a trip to Thailand to see performances like these in person.]
This group of students simulates the rowing of long boats.
Next came the Wat Glaang float.
Next up were Khemmarat Pittayakom students in support of the Wat Bpaa float.
Below is a photo of (from left) two singers from Khemmarat Pittayakom and three students who read an explanation of tang wai, a traditional folk dance of Isaan, which the dancers would be performing. The male student is reading an English explanation; the female students read explanations in Thai and Chinese. George had the pleasure of working with the young man on his speech.
The dancers were acoompanied by a band and by the two singers.
The float, the entertainers, and the supporters began the procession from the park. Below is Khemmarat Pittayakom English teacher Doe, who, along with a number of other teachers from our school who are walking behind her, helped to organize the students for the events of this day.
Some of the other lovely Khemmarat Pittayakom teachers.
There has been a recent outbreak of dengue fever in Thailand and a campaign at school to educate students about how to protect themselves against mosquito bites. This group of students was helping with that campaign, wearing mosquito head hats.
A group of students represented the ASEAN nations.
A news story that has gotten a lot of attention in Thailand lately is about a Buddhist monk who reportedly took expensive private jet flights and who bought 22 Mercedes Benzes as well as 35 other cars and who may have fathered a child by an underage girl. One group of students had some fun at the monk's expense.
Another group of students honored the Thai royal family.
And a final group of Khemmarat Pittiyakom students put on a mobile display of muay Thai, a combat sport popular in Thailand, which uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.
Your reporter couldn't wait to see the rest of the groups perform at the park -- he had to stay with his school, of course. As the parade headed down the main street through town, light rain began. But the parade participants stayed the course.
We've mentioned before in this blog the extent of overhead electrical cables in Thailand and that is true in Khemmarat as well. A cable lifter accompanied the parade to lift the cables as the candles passed beneath.
The parade made its way to the festival area by the river. The Khemmarat Pittayakom students performed again.
Here are Khemmarat Pittayakom physics teacher Dr. Dan and English teacher, Scout leader, and emcee at most KP events Meechai with the band.
The conclusion of the KP dance:
scenes from other schools dances:
and some more of the spectacular costumes and beautiful faces:
Here is our friend Kru Tong with his daughter, who performed with another school, and his wife:
and our friend and Khemmarat city councilman Nivat (foreground):
Here is a depiction of rural Isaan life (the basket at the end of the pole in the video is for collecting ants and ant eggs).
The candle festival was a memorable occasion with outstanding displays of artistry of all kinds!
