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Abbott's Cremation
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I
am sitting here experiencing the cremation of the well known Abbott/monk
here just outside Mae Rim near Chiang Mai. This is a picture of
him above. it is displayed in front of the pyre and his body is
inside the coffin. |
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Most people are dressed in black as at a funeral but there is a
'mc' who is getting the crowd 'fired' up (pun intended) by telling
jokes! [I cannot claim this pun it belongs to Jim, our great and
funny Northern Irish friend who me met here in Chiang Mai].
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Everyone
is laughing. [Except that guy in the picture above!] |
Now
a new robe & some flowers are being given to the monks - but
not directly. Men(oh I have just seen 1 woman too) take the gifts
up to the table in front of the coffin & ceremonious coverings
& then the monks are escorted (undercover of ornate umbrellas)
to pick up their gifts. They chant something all together &
drink something! |
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The
place is packed. This festival has been on now for 2 days &
it will be on for a total of 4. We have all been given an 'incense'
offering that contains a candle, a piece of kindling, 2 incense
sticks, and some yellow paper flowers! I will let you know later
what we had to do with them. We have front row seats. |
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The
coffin is sitting on a structure which is colourful & ornate.
There is a banner of a peacock with the trunk of an elephant which
apparently is a symbol of his Abbott status. |
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He
died 2 months ago & has been on ice since then. Today is the
official ceremony & cremation. Everyone is expected to give
money in some form or other, people seem to be respectful, there
are children all over the place too. |
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So
now all the monks are getting up and taking their offerings to the
pyre, it looks like all the kindling etc is being put INSIDE the
open coffin. There are about 50 plus monks. |
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Next
all the people in the seats are getting up so so did we. We moved
our way to the tables at the side of the monument and prayed and
handed over our incense offerings which were placed inside the coffin.
There were a LOT of people there, maybe 1000 plus.
Men are preparing
the fire to be lit. |
Now
it looks like it is all about to start. One Monk over by their seating
area has lit a firework and it has shot over to a tree at the left
side, then another one has shot back this direction and a third
one has gone directly into the coffin area. Now spiral fireworks
have gone off and are spinning all around the centre!! Woh the whole
thing has taken alight and the monks robe over the top as you can
see is burned! |
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The
heat being generated from this in intense in fact we had to move
out of the way and watch the proceedings from a different direction.
The coffin started to take alight and you can see that the bottom
dropped out of it so the body must have been long burned. |
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The
fire then slowly burns the entire stage area. Fireworks continue
to go off and the crowd seems to leave fairly promptly. |
This
was a spectacular site and it was amazing to see a monk leaving
the body to be a celebration and a salute to his lifetime, with
children all around and fireworks instead of grim faces! Thanks
to the friendly people there who did not frown on us taking photographs
and who shared this experience with us and allowed us to share it
with you. This page is in dedication to our brother the Abbott.
Thanks. |
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