Vegetarian Festival

Inside the temple

Sunday night Kate, Amy, Caroline, Alicia, Tess and I went to the opening ceremonies of the vegetarian festival in Phuket town. The festival started about 150 years ago by Chinese tin miners who had a horrible drought at the beginning of October. After they gave up meat for 9 days and prayed to their gods, the rains came back. The festival now takes place for 9 days in Phuket town every year and  also now involves self mutilation and other ceremonies such as walking on hot coals. It is a festival of purity, so everyone wears all white and women are not allowed to attend if they are menstrating or pregnant.

 We all headed head to toe in our white outfits to a Buddhist temple about 15 minutes walking away from our hotel, getting called "farang" (foreigner) the whole way. We didn't have to worry about getting lost, as we were able to follow the procession of people in white on motorbikes. We finally hit a street that was full of people dressed entirely in white, food vendors, and just absolute chaos. Many people who passed us had gold flakes sprinkles on their faces, and we knew that we were heading in the right direction even though we were going against the crowd. We quickly noticed that we were some of the only white people, and felt out of place and as if we were intruding.
We finally found the side street that housed the temple we had been looking for and walked up the stairs underneath the Chinese arch. Upon walking into the courtyard we were greeted by the smell of incense, a bellowing chant coming from speakers, throngs of people in white, and a tall, thin tree painted in gold. We all stood motionless, completely in awe at how out of place we felt. I have never felt so out of my element in my entire life: I had never been inside a Buddhist temple before, I was unsure what the festival was even about, and I can count the times I have been a racial minority on one hand. It was an incredibly humbling experience.

 After aimlessly wandering around looking at the different shrines around us, afraid that we may interrupt someone who was actually there to practice their religion, I kind of gave up and just stood in one spot taking it all in, knowing I was safe. Kate began talking to a Thai woman inside the temple, who told us to give a donation to the temple and pick up 18 incense sticks, 2 candles, and a roll of papers. When we reported back to her she instructed us to take off our shoes and follow her around to each alter. We lit all of our incense and began walking to different shrines, each adorned with at least 10 colorful statues of Buddhas and other deities, food, and a pot filled with ashes in which to stick our incense sticks (3 at each alter). We walked around with our incense's smoke burning our eyes, and at each alter we knelt and did the appropriate wai. June, our Thai guide, told us to be thankful that we had all met each other and to be thankful for what we have. I thought this was a beautiful way of putting things, and something I kept in mind while I participated in a religious ceremony that I had no idea about. June continuously told us how happy she was and that we had come together by fate, as she was at the ceremony alone and was happy to teach us about her beliefs and rituals.

A monk putting a string bracelet on a child. Note the man on the right holding a sword

After we had placed all of our incense sticks in their respective alters, June took us to another room inside the temple that was also an alter but had more food including bottles of water and large silver containers that looked like paint cans with a picture of a rabbit on them. She told us to sit down and then gave us a large orange candle that she had bought for us. She told us each to say what we wanted and what we needed, as a prayer to the Buddhist deities. She then lit it and placed it on the alter. She then gave us each 2 rounded pieces of wood and told us to go one by one and say what we want in our heads, throw the pieces of wood on the ground, and depending on how they fell, she would tell our fortunes. Her fortunes included things like, "it will be very difficult, but if you try really hard you will be able to acieve it," and "yes, it did not work out before but it will happen for you the next time."

The view from my temporary safe place: the opening of the temple and the gold stick

We were all so grateful to have someone to show us not only how to go through the steps of the ritual, but also explain the significance of the steps and to be thankful for what we have. What caught me most was that you tell the deities what you want and what you need, meaning that we can all want things and know what we want, but knowing what we actually need is hard,and in a way more important. As we were leaving the temple, a man that worked inside the temple chased us out to the street and spoke to
June in Thai. She turned to us and said that he was very happy that we came and participated in the ritual. Even though we were all uncomfortable the entire time, it was so nice to hear that our attempt to participate and our interest in something new not only expanded our own world views, but showed respect to the people who were participating.

 We are now in Ao Nang beach, a gorgeous resort town. Today we spent the day at the beach and tomorrow we will go on a hike through the jungle. I am excited to be on a beach and be doing some outdoor activities, but feel strange being right back in the tourist bubble, especially after taking part in such a spiritual and Thai festival. I now know that Thailand's beauty not only lies in it's pristine beaches, but also its rich and welcoming culture.