Temple festival in Bangkok: the good old days of carefree religious festivities.

Looking back to last two year’s activities, I feel so lucky to have done all the things I did and gone to all those festivals at various temples in Bangkok including all those walks in Chinatown and short trips around Bangkok. Because of the lockdown and pandemic, things will not be as carefree as in the past. I really enjoyed my evening outing at the annual festival at Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). Here are some of the photos of my fond memories.

The temple festival started early in the evening. There were traditional Thai music, a small temple bazaar full of craft shops and old style snacks plus Thai sweets. All the halls in the temple were opened for public view and there was a light show on the pagodas (jedi). The festival was a sounding success as there were so many visitors through out the three days’ festival.

The traditional music and dancers attracted a big audience including foreign tourists. The Thai sweets shops were very busy. I had a chance to walk around the ground of the temple and had a good look at all the main halls. Some of the Buddha statues were very old as they were brought from old capitol city of Siam.

The light show on the pagodas (or jedi) made the old porcelain decorations from China stood out against the dark sky. Everyone seemed to be very excited and having a very good time.

I was glad I got to pay respect to a very Buddha statue in a hall and got a glimpse of the hundreds of statues along the walls.

In this temple, many old Chinese sculptures and statues of about two hundred years old could be found dotted around trees, doors and gates. Several old and refurbished models of yogi practicing yoga postures could also be seen near the traditional massage center inside the temple ground. This temple was the first university in Siam as this was the place where people learned to read and write, traditional herbal medicine and massage.

I stayed till quite late at the temple; I watched the light show and listened to the old Thai music and bought some Thai snacks for dinner . The atmosphere of the temple festival was very friendly and enthusiastic with many people brought the whole family to enjoy free entertainments. Looking at these photos made me feel much more cheerful and full of hope that the temple festival would be organised for next year.

Wishing you all a very nice and prosperous week.

Hope you could visit Thailand one day!

Cheers.