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LOY KRATHONG FESTIVAL
Nov. 15th, 2004 05:00 pmSATURDAY NIGHT NOV 20 2004
WAT BUDDHARATANARAM
13075 SEHAPAYAK ROAD
KELLER, TX 76248-0822
TEL : (817) 430-1365
For any of the curious, there is a Buddhist festival this coming Saturday. If you want to see a traditional Theravada Buddhist temple and enjoy a little piece of Southeast Asia, come to the festival. There will be yummy food, too, for the culinarily adventurous.
I got this description off some website (sorry, forgot which one):
"One of the most beautiful and popular festivals in Thailand is Loy Krathong. This takes place on the full moon in November. During the evening, many people will go down to their local klong (canal) or river to float their krathongs. They believe this will bring them good luck. The krathongs (see picture above) contain a flower, a candle and three incense sticks which are lighted before being placed on the water. The people usually make a wish at the same time. Some people believe that if the candle remains burning until the krathong is out of sight then their wish will come true. By the end of the evening, there are hundreds of flickering lights bobbing up and down on the water. Quite often there are also firework displays as well as shows and beauty contests for everyone.
The Loy Krathong festival dates back to the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom, about 700 years ago. It marked the end of the rainy season and the main rice harvest. It is based on a Hindu tradition of thanking the water god for the waters. The farmers of Sukhothai used to hold a festival of floating candles. One year, a beautiful woman called Noppamas, who was the chief royal consort, made some special lanterns for the festival. She made them from banana leaves and shaped them like lotus flowers. The king was impressed with what he saw, so he announced that krathongs would be floated on the water every year from then on."
WAT BUDDHARATANARAM
13075 SEHAPAYAK ROAD
KELLER, TX 76248-0822
TEL : (817) 430-1365
For any of the curious, there is a Buddhist festival this coming Saturday. If you want to see a traditional Theravada Buddhist temple and enjoy a little piece of Southeast Asia, come to the festival. There will be yummy food, too, for the culinarily adventurous.
I got this description off some website (sorry, forgot which one):
The Loy Krathong festival dates back to the time of the Sukhothai Kingdom, about 700 years ago. It marked the end of the rainy season and the main rice harvest. It is based on a Hindu tradition of thanking the water god for the waters. The farmers of Sukhothai used to hold a festival of floating candles. One year, a beautiful woman called Noppamas, who was the chief royal consort, made some special lanterns for the festival. She made them from banana leaves and shaped them like lotus flowers. The king was impressed with what he saw, so he announced that krathongs would be floated on the water every year from then on."
