Happy Loy Krathong!

Every year, the Thai festival Loy Krathong, is celebrated on the full moon of November. This festival is celebrated to honor the Buddha and his many blessings given to us. Traditionally, small banana boats/rafts are made with beautiful flowers, banana leaves, candles and incense and set afloat along the river. Money, hair and fingernail pieces are also placed on these boats. The intentions for these detachments (letting go of the boat, hair and fingernail pieces) is to symbolize the negative parts of oneself like hate and anger. Also, this holiday pays respect to the river for its nourishment and service to us.

A major banana boat construction session was held today in substitution for our regular class schedule. We had higher attendance on this day since the schools opened this week and many of our students returned. I was really eager to make these boats when I heard Ming introduce this festival to us because if you know me, I'm big on crafts, sewing, recycling things to make other pieces of art and using my imagination and creativity to find beauty and function in unused objects.

Yok, looking over my shoulder as I make my krathong

Krathong workshop!

We began making these boats with simple and all natural materials like banana tree stock, banana leaves, tooth picks and vibrant flowers. I was amazed to see how creative all the students got with the limited materials they had. It was fascinating to watch the students gradually create their resplendent pieces of art. The intricacies in folding the banana leaves, positioning and usage of flowers to accent and mounting of several banana stock to create layers are all various techniques the students used to make their boats. They definitely mastered this art and had a fun time making them.

My creation!

A closer view

After spending a few hours creating these traditional floating devices, we headed out to a nearby temple that was just right off the riverfront. Only a few of the kids joined us, since usually this is a family spent festival. We were all so excited to share these moments together, I could just tell that the process of making these boats brought them happiness and being able to set them afloat was but another instant moment of joy. As we approached the temple, krathong vendors were posted in front and crowds and crowds of people made their way through the entrance. A beauty pageant was also in running during this event.

On the way to the temple

Beauty pageant

There was such a great turn-out at this event! So much that the line went past several vendors and we patiently had to wait until we were able to make our way down to the riverfront. Once we got there, we were allowed to say a small prayer before letting our boats go. Watching the negativity in our lives float away and renewing ourselves with hope that we can live our lives free from such debilitating and self-imposed states were simple reminders for change. This was a really positive festival to celebrate for me. The process and symbolism of everything refreshed me of these things I should consciously apply to my daily routine and life. We should always take the time to be mindful of ourselves and the opportunity to continue to become better people.

In line to set our krathongs afloat

Thank you, Thailand for exposing me to experiences like these.
Namaste.

Pictures from Loy Krathong