phi ta khon
day 1

the origin of the festival is the legend of the popular prince vessandorn, who is regarded as the penultimate incarnation of buddha. one day, when prince vessandorn set off on a long journey on the back of a white elephant. as white elephants are considered sacred animals and therefore also lucky charms, people feared that luck would leave them when the elephant left town. therefore, the people tried unsuccessfully to convince the king to dissuade his son from this plan. when the prince later returned home, this was celebrated so exuberantly that even the spirits awoke from the dead and took part in the celebration.

today, on the first day of the festival, the spirits are therefore called - first of all, the especially revered phra upakud, a former monk with supernatural powers. when phra upakud had reached the highest level of meditation, he could choose the form of his eternal life: he chose to exist as a white marble in the peaceful waters of the mun-river. the inhabitants of dan sai therefore believe that phra upakud protects the place from evil demons with his powers.

before sunrise on the first day of the festival, the people gather at the central phon-chai temple and then move to the mun. there they search for white stones in the water, which are then brought back to the temple. later on, the other spirits are also called. the people meet in the house of jao-por guan, the spiritual leader of the community, and then move to the temple and walk around it several times singing and dancing. they are accompanied by two huge ghost figures, one female and one male, as a symbol for fertility, abundance of children and happiness.

later in the day many inhabitants of dan sai dress up as ghosts and romp through the streets of the city until late in the evening, dancing and joking.

continued in next post...