Phi Ta Khon history
The legend of the festival is derived from an episode in the Wetsandon Jataka recounting the journey home of Prince Wetsandon (the last former life of the Lord Buddha) and his wife Matsi after years of exile in the forest.
The townspeople then celebrating his return were so delightful that the spirits emerged to join them.
The event lasts for three days featuring Buddhistic rituals, traditional ceremonies and fun-filled activities.
Phi Ta Khon festival highlights the eye-appealing colourful parade of Phi Ta Khon along with local performances.
Most Phi Ta Khon carry wooden weapons in the shape of an oversized penis with a splash of red paint on the tip and played with the audience, who are amused by their antics.
The use of the phalluses is not considered rude. Indeed, they are a token of power and fertility. Natives believe that these things will satisfy Phaya Thaen, a most revered deity of the northeastern region who is believed to control the well-being of villagers.
The Phi Ta Khon / Boon Luang festival is really two festivals combined into one.
The two festivals are the Boon Phra Wate festival and the Boon Bung Fai also known as the Bamboo Rocket festival. Merit-making is central to the Boon Phra Wate ceremony with villagers congregating at the temple to listen to a total of 13 Buddhist sermons. It is believed that by participating in Boon Phra Wate, the villagers will be brought closer to Lord Sri-Araya – the future Buddha. The Boon Bung Fai ritual is performed to honor the guardian spirits of the village and to ask for sufficient rain to arrive in time for the coming farming season.
The lively Phi Ta Khon procession also includes depictions of Dan Sai life many, many years ago when the village was a farming community.
There are villagers wearing water buffalo costumes to recognize the water buffalo’s importance to the farmer in plowing the rice fields and pulling heavy loads.
Included also are villagers dressed as the farmers dressed in those days carrying fishing poles or other equipment used to catch fish to represent an important source of food from the Mun River. Some of these farmers are carrying bamboo trays of herbs to represent importance of herbs in treating any illnesses.
The date for the Boon Luang festival may change from year to year. The date is determined by Jao Saen-muang a spirit who is regarded as the protector of Dan Sai.
Each year Jao -por Guan the village spirit leader and male medium along with Jao-mae Nang Tiam a female medium, the Saen a group of male mediums, and the Nang Taeng a group of four female servants hold a special ceremony to learn from the spirit Jao Saen-muang when the Boon Luang festival should be held that year.
The first day of Boon Luang is known as Wan Home day. Its purpose is to gather the spirits. Activities begin between 03:00 and 04:00 a.m. before dawn.
Villagers assemble at the Phonchai Temple and then head for the Mun River led by members of the Saen. There, before the sun rises, an invocation ritual is performed calling upon a revered spirit known as Phra Upakud who is symbolized by white marble. According to local legend, Phra Upakud was a monk with supernatural powers. Having reached the highest level of meditation, he attained eternal life and was endowed with the power to assume any physical or spiritual form he chose. He opted to transform himself into white marble and to live in complete solitude in a peaceful environment in the waters of the Mun River in Dan Sai.
With these supernatural powers, the villagers believe that only Phra Upakud is able to protect the village from evil spirits. During the invocation ritual, white pebbles symbolic of Phra Upakud are collected from the river bed, consecrated by the leader of the Saen, and then taken back to Pon-chai Temple where sacred rituals are performed in Phra Upakud’s honor and where later the monks are fed special ceremonial food.
A few hours later that morning the local villagers assemble to summon additional spirits at the home of Jao-por Guan which doubles as the most important spirit shrine in Dan Sai. All present participate in a bai sri ceremony which involve incantations, lighting of candles, and then the tying of sacred threads on the arms of Jao-por Guan and Jao-mae Nang Tiam. Members of the Saen and the Nang Taeng tie a single loop of sacred thread around one wrist of everyone present.
