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| Circumambulation |
Makha Puja is one of the most important Buddhist festivals. It is widely celebrated in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. It comes on the third lunar month (makha, in Thai) to venerate (puja, in Thai) Lord Buddha. This is why Makha Puja Day is the time to honor Buddha in remembrance of his teachings in northern India on the third full moon of the third lunar month.
Today was the day. It is a public holiday in Thailand. People go to temples and apply the three principles of Buddhism:
- to get rid of all evils,
- to do only good,
- and to purify one's mind.
So Buddhists go to temples to perform merit-making activities. This involves a circumambulation around the ordination hall (phra ubosot). It must be done three times clockwise:
- one for honoring Lord Buddha,
- a second one for His teachings,
- a third one for His disciples.
Worshippers
What is also interesting is that each person must carry flowers (preferably lotus), three sticks of incense and a candle. After the third circumambulation, they lit the candle.
This interesting celebration stresses the importance of number 3 [3+3+3], an odd number, which is an attribute of the mystery of religious matters. On another symbolical perspective, the circumambulation refers to the circle, a divine representation of the cosmos. It is done clockwise because this is the way time elapses. And most important, it is done around the ubosot, a usually square building. The square is another symbolic representation of Earth. And in Thai traditional architecture, there is always a three-level roof above.
Christian Sorand
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| At the temple |
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| Lighting the candle |
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| Incense and lit candle |
PS: the photos were all taken at Wat Pathutwanaram Ratchaworawihan in Bangkok.
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