Festivals
The Bang Rachan Heroes Memorial Fair is held every February 4 to 6 at the Heroes of Khai Bang Rachan Monument and Khai Bang Rachan Park in Tambon Bang Rachan, Amphoe Khai Bang Rachan. Activities at the fair include ceremonies which pay homage to the image of Phra Achan Thammachot and include the laying a wreath before the Heroes of Khai Bang Rachan Monument. It also features a sound and light show on the courageous acts of the heroes of Khai Bang Rachan, folk plays, various other entertainment and exhibitions of numerous precious things of Sing Buri.
Kam Fa Festival: It is a merit-making fair of the people of Thai Phuan in Amphoe Phrom Buri’s Ban Bang Nam Chiao and Muban Phokhaphiwat. It is intended to worship and commemorate the deity who guards the sky and controls the rain to fall seasonally. On the second day of the waxing moon in the third lunar month, which is taken as a preparatory day, villagers will join and make Khao Pun (rice vermicelli), Khao Chi (grilled rice) and Khao Lam (sweet sticky rice) for alms to be offered the next morning. An auspicious ritual performed by Buddhist monks is held in the evening when participating villagers bring sticky rice, eggs and sugar. At night, there is enjoyable entertainment. Late that night, the villagers begin to steam sticky rice and make sweets. On the third day of the waxing moon in the third lunar month which is the Kam Fa Day, the villagers will bring the prepared offerings and food to make merit at the temple. Seven days after the Kam Fa, another half day of the Kam Fa ritual is celebrated and after five more days, food will be offered to the monks. Following this offering, a piece of firewood is brought to float in the river as a ritual to expel the drought. This is done lastly to complete the Kam Fa ceremony.
The Ti Khao Bin Festival is an old tradition only observed in the village of Chakkrasi in Amphoe Mueang, Sing Buri, during the Songkran Festival from the 13th until the 15th of April every year. The ceremony is performed by villagers who bring sticky rice or red sticky rice which are steamed and wrapped in banana-leaf cones. The cones of sticky rice will be put on footed trays and offered to Luangpho Phra Non Chakkrasi at Wat Phra Non Chakkrasi. After an appropriate period of time, there will be a ceremony to withdraw the rice. The villagers return to get their trays and take some sticky rice from the cones into a small banana-leaf cup which is then left before the reclining image of Buddha. The rest of the rice, which is considered the rice of Luangpho Phra Non Chakkrasi, will be shared and eaten at the temple by the villagers in groups of 6 to 7 people.
The Kuan Khao Thip Festival: Khao Thip or Khao Mathupayat (rice sweets) is usually made in Muban Wat Kudi Thong, Ban Phokhaphiwat and Wat Uttamaphichai in Amphoe Phrom Buri. The exact date of the festival is not fixed but it always is held during the time that young rice grows enough to give a milk-like juice. A ceremonial pavilion is set up and encircled by a holy thread. Virgin girls will bring nine ingredients: bean, sesame, milk, butter, sugar, coconut, honey, sugarcane juice and the milk-like juice squeezed out of young rice, to mix in a giant wok. The ingredients are then heated by a wood fire of Javanese cassia and jujube trees, which must be ignited using the sun. The stirring will be accompanied by Buddhist monks’ chant of victory as well as the sounds of beating gongs and drums. The ritual still follows the traditional practice by having the appearance of a Brahman priest. The virgin girls who participate in the ritual must be the ones who have not yet started their first menstrual period. They are required to wear white and practise the Buddhist eight precepts in order to purify their body and mind before the ceremony. The girls will help make Khao Thip, which takes around six hours to finish. The sweet will be put in a container as an offering to the monks the next morning.
The Traditional Long-tailed Boat Race is held in September each year on the Chao Phraya River at the embankment in front of the old City Hall. Many famous boats from other provinces join the race to win HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Cup. This is a challenging and exciting event and the beautifully decorated boats are shown at their best.
The Fish Eating Festival and Sing Buri Red Cross Fair is held in late December each year. The Mae La River in Sing Buri is a natural source teeming with fish. Pla Chon Mae La or Mae La striped snake-head fish is very famous. It can be cooked into various delicious dishes of Sing Buri. Furthermore, Sing Buri is an origin of good cooks who possess recipes of well-known food and desserts.
Read more about this topic: Sing Buri Province, Culture
Famous quotes containing the word festivals:
“Why wont they let a year die without bringing in a new one on the instant, cant they use birth control on time? I want an interregnum. The stupid years patter on with unrelenting feet, never stopping—rising to little monotonous peaks in our imaginations at festivals like New Year’s and Easter and Christmas—But, goodness, why need they do it?”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“This is certainly not the place for a discourse about what festivals are for. Discussions on this theme were plentiful during that phase of preparation and on the whole were fruitless. My experience is that discussion is fruitless. What sets forth and demonstrates is the sight of events in action, is living through these events and understanding them.”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)