The secondary school in Phana, Matayum Phana Suksa, organised a mass ordination of novices in honour of HM The King's 80th birthday a couple of years back. 104 boys were ordained. This obviously involved the cooperation of many local abbots, because all these novices had to be accommodated in wats for the time they remained in the robes. They had to be offered food each day, too, so the local community as well as their families were also heavily involved. It was a good example of the community spirit that Phana frequently demonstrates.
The first stage of the ordination took place at the school towards the the end of the afternoon. First, the boys were given a talk by a senior monk who explained to them the significance of what they were doing.
Then each boy was handed a lotus leaf which was to be used for collecting the first cuttings of his hair.
The boys were assembled in two long lines outside the main classroom block where a parent, grandparent or other family representative was waiting for each of them. Quite a few of the teachers were seated to receive boys, some because they were the boy's parent or grandparent, and some because there was no family representative present. The boys prostrated themselves in front of their 'parent' and apologised for any fault or misdeed they might have committed, and the 'parent' forgave them. All this was led by a senior monk with a microphone, who led the boys and the adults through the various stages of the rite.
The first three cuts of hair were made by this family representative, and then teachers and girls moved around making further cuts. Everyone seemed to enjoy this, especially the girls who are not usually encouraged to come into such close contact with the boys who remained very serious throughout. I do not know what happened to the hair cuttings that were collected in the lotus leaves, but probably they were taken home and perhaps preserved for some time.
The boys then marched off to have their heads shaved in another part of the school. The shaving was done by monks, one or two novices who had been ordained for some time, by male teachers, and by at least one woman.
The following day a big procession walked from the school to Wat Phra Lao Thepnimit, a distance of about 2kms. The procession was comprised of several quite distinct groups. Leading the procession were 32 boys and girls in army cadet uniforms, carrying flags. Then came 42 girls, some carrying flower arrangements and others with offerings of requisites for the monks. Then came about 50 teachers, mostly women, followed by the 104 ordinands (nag, in Thai) who were now dressed all in white and each carrying a lotus flower, a candle and a stick of incense. Behind them were their parents, each one holding the robes they would later present. Some of the boys were represented by more than one adult, so there were almost 200 people in this group. After these adults came more girls, about 200 of them, plus a few boys. And finally there were 8 more girl cadets. So it was a very big procession and took a long time to pass.
When the procession reached Wat Phra Lao it reformed, with three VIPs at the front, the Director of Phana Suksa, the District Officer (nai amphur) and the local education officer, who now took their place at the head of the procession. After a short pause, the whole group then walked slowly clockwise around the sala where the ordination was going to take place. This was accompanied by loud music and quite a lot of shouting from teachers and parents especially.
After completing the circumambulation of the sala, the nag and their robe-sponsor sat down side by side. Again, a senior monk led everyone through the ritual presentation of the robes.
The nag were then led through the part of the ritual where they become ordained as novices, taking the 10 precepts which they will follow during the time they remain as novices.
Monks helped the newly-ordained novices to put on their robes. This was a fairly relaxed part of the ceremony, with some banter between monks and novices, monks and parents and onlookers. There was a real sense of relief that evrything had been completed successfully.
Monks first and then novices were offered the main (and last) meal of the day at about 11a.m. Parents and relatives offered food to the new novices. Many people who had come to the wat to take part in the ceremony, or just to support the occasion, also ate at the back of the sala after monks and novices had finished their meal.
The sense of pleasure and pride engendered in this ceremony is evident in the family group pictured above. Probably the most significant feature of this ceremony from a family point of view is the way that on the first day the boy prostrates himself in front of his sponsor, preferably one of his parents. On the second day the process is reversed, and the parent prostrates herself or himself in front of the new novice who is the ritual superior by this stage.
About aweek later, on the King's birthday, an alms round organised by Tetsaban Phana and Tetsaban Phra Lao took place at the District Office. The novices from Phana Suksa School joined local monks on this occasion.
3 videos of this event can be seen by going to youtube.com and entering phanaperson in the search bar. I'm sorry I have not yet mastered the art of embedding videos on this blog. It would be helpful to me if you could leave a comment on the youtube site and on this one if you find these videos interesting and a worthwhile addition to the blog. It might persuade me to up my efforts to learn how to add them more efficiently. THANKS!
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