This morning we got up early so that we could watch the ancient Buddhist ritual of Tak Bat – the morning alms giving ritual. At sunrise silent saffron robed monks (with the oldest in front) walk in single file along the main streets of Luang Prabang carrying large lidded urns attached to their shoulders by a strap. Lining the streets waiting for them are locals and tourists (men standing and women kneeling) with offerings of sticky rice, crackers and incense sticks. As each monk files past, he receives a handful of sticky rice which is dropped into his urn. There are around 80 temples in Luang Prabang and over 2,000 monks so we saw several “batches” of monks coming from all directions. However there were only a few devotees with offerings in the street outside our hotel, so the monks moved quite fast and the ceremony was over in around 15 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment