Boun Pravet: Phra Uppakrut

Last weekend Maha Pucha Day was celebrated in much of Thailand, but hardly at all here in Phana. It never is, because the people here celebrate Boun Pravet on the same day. Maha Pucha has been a Thai national holiday since the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV, 1851-1868), but celebrating Boun Pravet is a much older Lao tradition. The two-day celebration of Boun Pravet began on Saturday mornng, the second phase was in the afternoon and it continued throughout Sunday.

The festival always begins with a little ritual calling Phra Uppakrut to protect the space where the main ceremony will take place. In Phana that meant Wat Phra Lao this year. Phana's two main wats are the focus of the festival on alternate years and monks from wats thoughout the amphur come to take part.

Just who or what Phra Uppakrut is, is a matter for conjecture because there seems little agreement between people, even in Isan where he has an important place in Buddhist iconography and in the traditional celebration of this festival. He is certainly associated with ponds and swamps. He is said to have risen from a swamp, either because he is a swamp spirit of some sort (some say he is the lord of the nagas) or because he was a monk (hence the title Phra) who was meditating in a swamp when called upon to preside over a meeting of monks. The paraphanalia associated with him (monk's bowl, kettle and so on) also point to him being thought of as a monk. The men performing the rituals were keen to point out to me that he is not wearing a hat, rather it is a lotus leaf that he dislodged when he rose from the swamp. Note also that he is always depicted as holding a long-stemmed lotus flower.

Everyone seems to agree that Phra Uppakrut is the enemy of Mara (the personification of disruption and hindrance) and so calling him to attend the festival ensures that all is peaceful and calm in the village and the wat for the duration of the celebrations.

  The first ritual was conducted at the south-western corner of Kud Phra Lao, the large pond to the west of the temple compound. A sedan chair had been prepared together wth several ritual items, most notably flowers and the usual kind of offerings made to spirits and angels. A man then went into the pond and emerged with a small black  image  of Phra Uppakrut. Presumably the image had been placed there previously. Arriving late, I only saw him come out of the water with the image from a distance.

The 'diver' was also the ritual expert (mor kwan) who called on Uppakrut to attend the festival. He placed various small banana-leaf-wrapped packages of food in the yellow bowl when he had finished the invocation. The image and ritual items were then carried to Wat Phra Lao and another small rite was performed at the staue of Phra Uppakrut after circling him three times in a clockwise direction.

 

 

As with other aspects of this festival, I know that the rituals are not necessarily carried out in exactly this way in other parts of Isan. Even in Phana there are small variations and elaborations from one year to the next.

In my next post I will show what happened later the same day when monks and lay people gathered in Don Chao Poo, our local forest.

 

Comments

[Lawrence]

I apologize for the headless men in the second picture. It's something I need to be much more aware of when I'm composing the shot. I do the same with people's feet, too, but perhaps that doesn't matter so much.

[Mike]

Lawrence, you certainly have somewhat different traditions in your neck of the woods.

The photos are fine and portray the story perfectly.

Made me laugh though because when we were kids Mum always cropped our heads if the old man let her use the B&W camera. So much for childhood memories!

[Martyn]

Lawrence another interesting insight into Thai and Lao traditions. The man retrieving the image of Phra Uppakrut from the water is a strange one.

..... 'another small rite was performed at the staue of Phra Uppakrut after circling him three times in a clockwise direction'.....

I attended a cremation in Wilai's village over Christmas and before climbing the steps to place a token in the coffin a large group of mourners circled the cremation shrine (don't know proper name) I guess three times. They circled it anti-clockwise.

Do you know why they circle the shrines and statues in this way and what is the significance in what direction they take?

Nice post and good photos.

[Lawrence]

Martyn, thanks for your comment. Quoting you, "flattery will get you everywhere."

In Buddhist rituals most things are done/said 3 times. This is usually (and probably always) to remind us of the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha) also known as the Three Refuges.

Death rites use several 'reversals' of usual practice. eg the body is laid out with head towards the west, which in life most Thais would avoid. The body leaves the house not through the usual door (it may have to be symbolically altered if there is only one door)and as you noticed the circumambulation at the wat is done anti-clockwise. All other occasions it is done clockwise. Death and life are seen as opposed, not surprisingly.

Hope this clarifies things a bit for you. There are many more mysteries out there!

[Lawrence]

Mike, thanks for that. There are a couple more posts on Boun Pravet to come. I hope you will find those interesting too.

I will censor any photos that look as if your mum took them.