This afternoon I drove over to Wat Bang Ya Phraek in Phra Pradaeng District of Samut Prakan to take pictures at their annual parade of the pinnacles for the sand pagodas.
About 11 communities took place in this parade with close on 1,000 people attending. Really it was just “wien tien” around the temple grounds, three times in a clockwise direction. But, as there were so many people, it took nearly an hour for all of them to finish.
During the parade they were carrying various things in order to make merit and also for decorating their sand pagoda. The spire, or pinnacle, in Thai is called “yot chedi” and was carried at the front of each group. This was then placed at the top of the pagoda as you can see them doing in this picture.
Each group had their own musical band and the sound was at times very deafening. In addition there was also the occasional firecracker. By the time all of the groups had come together in this small area to decorate their pagoda, the air was thick with the smell of burning incense sticks. Very chaotic atmosphere but also very enjoyable. I will post more pictures on www.paknam.com later.
- Posted from my iPhone
better than KFC and McDonalds lol but the name...
Jack
29/04/2010 at 10:25 am
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it