Festival marks Buddhist Lent

The annual "Tak Bat Dok Mai Festival" will be held July 10-11 at Wat Phra Phutthabat Ratchaworamaha Wihan in Phra Phutthabat District of Saraburi Province. "Tak Bat Dok Mai" floral merit-making ceremony is performed at a temple that shelters a footprint of Lord Buddha, a highly revered ancestral place of worship and a national landmark.

On the morning of the first day of the Buddhist Lent, local residents indulge in merit-making by offering alms to monks at Wat Phra Buddhabat. Later, young young couples go to collect Dok Khao Phansa flowers in the foothills of the temple. In the town area, people stage a candle and "Tak Bat Dok Mai" procession to the temple.

Floral merit-making rites are held in the afternoon, but before that a variety of traditional folk games and cultural performances are featured. The long-drum dance, candle carving and Thai costume contests keep the audience entertained. Buddhist devotees line up both sides of the street from the from mondop, the seven-tiered temple spire, all the way to town to offer alms as monks file past.