58 km
bangkok | thailand | travelled in 2012 | posted on apr 11, 2012
from april 2nd to 6th over 1500 monks and novices took part in a pilgrimage to bring a golden statue to wat paknam in central bangkok to honour the monk phra mongkhonthepmuni who died in 1959.
this 58 km walk started at dhammakaya temple north of bangkok and went through the city in several stages over five consecutive days.
although many believers lined the path of the monks, covering the entire route with rose petals, the pilgrimage was not without controversy. the chairwoman of the committee for religion, art and culture criticised that this march could violate the monks' code of conduct and that it was unreasonable that so many monks were marching through the streets of bangkok, thus further aggravating the already tense traffic situation in the city.
the promoter's answer was: while in the past monks used to make pilgrimages into the solitude of the forests, in the time of urbanisation religion had to be brought into the cities. only the teachings of buddha, but not congested streets were of importance for the monks.