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Wien Tien Klang Nam Ceremony at Wat Tilok Aram in Phayao
"Thailand's unexplored North", writes Austin Bush on Lonely Planet: "Not even many Thais are aware of the northern city of Phayao". The setting at Kwan Phayao, the biggest lake in Northern Thailand, is attractive. The 6 km long and 4 km wide lake has been created for irrigation of the rice paddies. At the bottom of the 1.7 m deep lake sits the 500 years old Wat Tilok Aram. Visitors can hire boats to the point where a Buddha statue surfaced recently - about 680 metres from the lake's eastern pier.
Three times a year - on Makha Bhucha Day, Visakah Bucha Day and Asarnha Bucha Day - there is a candle light procession on the water, called Wien Tien Klang Nam ceremony. Wien Tien is one of the many beautiful Thai festivals - actually "Wien Tien" simply means (roughly translated!) "walking around ("wien") the Wat (temple) with a candle ("tien")" to give honor to Buddhism, and is an opportunity to "make merit" - do good things to attract good karma for yourself.
I have not yet heard nor seen anything about the next Wien Tien Klang Nam ceremony which is supposed to be held in about 2 weeks time (19 July - Asarnha Bucha Day). This may be related to the low water level in the lake and boats normally used in the Wien Tien Klang Nam ceremony may not be able to make the trip around the island on which Wat Tilok Aram sits. Access to the island is normally by boat but, due to the low water level, a bridge has been constructed to reach the island. Previous ceremonies have been spectacular affairs. Just a short video nicked from the Internet to show what you can expect.
"Thailand's unexplored North", writes Austin Bush on Lonely Planet: "Not even many Thais are aware of the northern city of Phayao". The setting at Kwan Phayao, the biggest lake in Northern Thailand, is attractive. The 6 km long and 4 km wide lake has been created for irrigation of the rice paddies. At the bottom of the 1.7 m deep lake sits the 500 years old Wat Tilok Aram. Visitors can hire boats to the point where a Buddha statue surfaced recently - about 680 metres from the lake's eastern pier.
Three times a year - on Makha Bhucha Day, Visakah Bucha Day and Asarnha Bucha Day - there is a candle light procession on the water, called Wien Tien Klang Nam ceremony. Wien Tien is one of the many beautiful Thai festivals - actually "Wien Tien" simply means (roughly translated!) "walking around ("wien") the Wat (temple) with a candle ("tien")" to give honor to Buddhism, and is an opportunity to "make merit" - do good things to attract good karma for yourself.
I have not yet heard nor seen anything about the next Wien Tien Klang Nam ceremony which is supposed to be held in about 2 weeks time (19 July - Asarnha Bucha Day). This may be related to the low water level in the lake and boats normally used in the Wien Tien Klang Nam ceremony may not be able to make the trip around the island on which Wat Tilok Aram sits. Access to the island is normally by boat but, due to the low water level, a bridge has been constructed to reach the island. Previous ceremonies have been spectacular affairs. Just a short video nicked from the Internet to show what you can expect.
