Every year on the eve of Visakha Bucha Day, thousands of monks and lay Buddhist in the Chiang Mai province make a 13 kilometer walk uphill to Doi Suthep Temple. Visakha Bucha (sometimes transliterated as Visaka Puja) is the most revered day in Thai Buddhism. It celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha. This merit making pilgrimage has become increasingly popular. It seems to have morphed into an initiation rite for first year university students. Especially noticeable is the fraternity among young men who sing manly songs, grunt, and encourage each other along the way. At a leisurely pace it can take anywhere between 4-6 hours to get to the top. Of course there are food and drink stalls, foot massage, and tents where one can receive blessings from monks and make donations to temples all along the way. The full moon and candles light the path. This year, my walking partner Jonas kept me motivated the whole way up. By the time we got to the top the procession was just making its final round. This short video gives a little taste of the celebration.
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3 comments:
Thanks for the video! What was being shown on the giant screen? Was the procession politicized at all?
So how long did it take you and how many foot massages along the way? Hope you earned a lot of merit!! :)
What looks like screens are large pictures of King Bhumiphol, and as far as I could tell people left politics out. We made it up in about 3hrs 15min ... and another long time to the very top, as there were so many people. Although J and I did get lots of refreshments along the way, we didn't get any massages. We get back almost 4am. I had to do stretch yoga the next day to recover!
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