Chiang Mai Inthakin Ceremony

Posted by Arda on June 22nd, 2007 filed in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand, Activities, Thai Culture, Thailand travel

By Jen Jones

For visitors to Chiang Mai, there is never a better time of year to see the city than during the Inthakin Ceremony, held this year over the 13th – 20th of May. Most of the religious events during the week are focused around the Wat Chedi Luang temple, however processions often take to the streets in colorful and noisy parades, and the nights are full of festivities and shows. The week shows off the best of the city: its long, rich history; its Buddhist traditions, and nightly performances of traditional music and dance. But the celebration also shows the city’s spirit, the vibrant energy of the people, their capacity for laughter and fun and endless nights of celebration.

On the afternoon of the first day of celebrations, a Buddha statue known as Fon Saan Haa (One Hundred Thousand Drops of Rain) is taken around Chiang Mai in a brilliant parade. Local people line the streets and sprinkle scented water on the statue as it passes, in the hopes that rain will come to the region, at the right time and in the right quantities.  The ritual is also thought to bestow good health upon the participants. The parade winds to a close in the Wat Chedi Luang and the statue remains on display there for the rest of the week. Chiang Mai sights

Last year, they must have been successful, because during the parade and for several days afterward, it rained.

“I had no idea the festival was happening,” said Maria Pasham, who visited Chiang Mai from India last year. “There I was at an intersection and suddenly the streets were full of golden chariots, waving blue flags and what seemed like hundreds of people all in traditional clothes, laughing and smiling and urging me to join them.”

Underneath the exterior of the Buddha image, and beneath all the traditional religious worship, however, is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years and has more animist roots.

Legend has it that the concrete Buddha at the temple really encases the Inthakin Pillar. Carved from teak and covered with gold leaf, there are four Buddha images around the base, facing the four points of the compass.  The pillar was a part of the ancient civilization that settled where the city of Chiang Mai is today, long before it was a city or before it went under the name it does today, long before Buddhism even came into the world as a religion.

It is said that when the pillar falls, so, too, will the city of Chiang Mai. Its initial construction, shrouded in myths and legends, is said by some to have rid the area of the demons that beset it. However it came to be and whatever its original purpose, the pillar is widely believed to protect the city of Chiang Mai. When Chiang Mai was conquered by the Burmese long ago, people say it was because the ruler of the city at that time did not allow people to pay their respects to the pillar and thus the city became weak and fell to the invaders.

The annual celebration and homage to the pillar should begin in the eight month, on the 12th day of the waning moon and lasts for about a week.  This year the celebrations will begin on May 13th and last until May 20th.

Another major ritual in the regions part of the ceremony involves placing offerings on twenty-eight mats around the temple compound. Each mat is meant to represent one of the earthly incarnations of Buddha. Every day, the monks call upon each by name, in turn, and by the end of the week, the courts of the temple are full of heaps of flowers, clouds of incense and piles of dripping wax candles.

The festival is a great time to be in Chiang Mai, not just to experience local history, folklore and religious traditions, but also to participate in the fun and revelry.  For an entire week, the nights in Chiang Mai are spent in laughter and light with shows and games and music being performed around the city. Traditional dances, such as the Lance Dance and the Sword Dance are performed, traditional music is played and there are even very rare performances of pretend sword fights put on.

“I heard that the festival was supposed to bring peace to the city, but at night, it is anything but peaceful,” said Robyn Sealy, a Canadian tourist, with a grin.  “It’s a great celebration, but very Thai, nothing at all like a Canadian street party.”

After seven days of worship and celebration, the festival comes to an end with one final ceremony. One last blessing is bestowed upon the pillar by a delegation of 108 monks. Those who attend often follow the blessing with donations of food for the monks, gaining merit for future lives.  The clouds of incense slowly disperse into the warm April air and the Fon Saan Haa Buddha image goes back into seclusion under the gum tree that protects it.