Life in Phana

Young Mor Lam Singers

These two young mor lam singers appeared twice in Phana recently. They are just 9 years old but already have real stage presence and their memory for the words of the songs was very impressive.

I saw them first at a tam boun baan, where I recorded them. Then they appeared at the tetsaban's entertainment for Tod Kathin where I took some photos.

Here is the video of  them:

They really seem at home on stage:

The audience enjoyed their performance very much. The only two who seemed a bit tense are the girl's mother (front left) and the boy's father (front right).

I noticed that he mouthed every word the boy sang and the boy glanced at him rather nervously and frequently at the tam boun baan. A typical 'star's parent' I guess. Seeing the little boy having his makeup put on was an odd thing, too. But they both (they are unrelated, apparently, but both come from Phibul Mangsahan in Ubon Province) sang really well. Good to see mor lam performed without 99 dancers in strange headgear, as well. 

 

If you are not familiar with mor lam, you may find the style strange. They are singing in Lao, of course. I hope you enjoy this brief example. 
 

Ubon Ratchathani National Museum

The Ubon Ratchathani National Museum is located on the corner of Khuanthani Road and Upparat Road in a very attractive building. It was built in 1918 and was originally used as the offices of the Provincial Governor. A new City Hall was built in 1968 and in 1983 the then Governor presented the building to the Fine Arts Department for restoration and use as a museum. HRH Princess Sirindhorn presided over the inauguration ceremony on 30th June 1989.

 

A series of rooms surrounds a large central hall containing Buddha images, which is used on occasion as a lecture hall. Either side of this hall are two rectangular garden areas. In one of the gardens is this wooden bell (you can see an even bigger one near the entrance to Wat Si Pradoo at the eastern end of Sapphasit Road):

An internal verandah separates the rooms from the central hall and gardens. This layout results in a shady, cool, quiet ambience that suits very well the new purpose of the building, and the polished teak and fretwork designs that decorate the top of door-frames and pillars are themselves significant cultural artefacts.

 

Everyone will have their own idea as to the highlights of the main exhibition, but there are some particularly important exhibits, all of which were found in Ubon Ratchathani Province (although some were found in what are now Amnat Charoen and Yasothon, provinces that were created at a later date).

Amongst the most important items on view here are a bronze kettle drum that is more than 2,000 years old, pottery found in Amphur Phana that is more than 1,500 years old and sema stones (boundary markers of consecrated areas) from the 8th and 9th centuries,such as this one:

There is plenty of evidence here of the Hindu roots of pre-Buddhist religion in this part of Isan. This image of the Hindu God Shiva mixed with his consort Uma (you have to look closely to see that one half of the image is male and the other female) dates from the 9th century AD:

 

 And this sandstone Ganesa (Ganesh) image is from the 10th century:

 

This delicate Buddha image  in the Lao style is from the 18th or 19th century:

And this unusual gilt lacquer image of the Buddha is on a sandstone tablet and is much older:

There are also some interesting photographs and regalia from the end of the 19th century.

Outside the main building is an open-sided sala housing three large sema stones dating from the 8th - 9th centuries AD, a long dugout boat, and a huge 'road-scraper' from the late 19th century.

The museum is open on Wednesdays through Sundays, but  closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and national holidays. Opening hours are from 9am to 4pm. The admission fee was 30 Baht last time I went.

Photography is not allowed inside the museum, but if you particularly wish to take photographs you can appy to the Director as I did by asking at the ticket counter. Permission will be allowed or refused more or less immediately and involves a certain amount of form-filling, but this will only be required once permission has been granted.

Wat Nong Bua, Ubon

One of Ubon's most distinctive landmarks is Wat Nong Bua, although it is only really visible from the north and north-west. The main chedi is a replica of the one at Bodhgaya, India, where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. It was built to mark the 2,500 year Buddhist celebrations and was completed in 1969, 2512 in the Buddhist Era.

 

If you were born in the year of the little snake, this is an auspicious wat to visit, especially so if you can do so on your birthday.

 

Wat Nong Bua is reached by turning left at traffic lights 4 kms north from Tung Si  Muang on Chayakul Road and going 600 m along Thammawithi Road. Samlors and tuk-tuks both seem to charge between 60 and 80 baht for the trip. There are samlors at Talad Nong Bua back near the intersection with Chayangkul Road for the return trip. Buses (songthaews) numbers 2,3, and 11 go as far as the Thammawithi turn off, and bus #10 turns down Thammawithi Road and goes past the Wat.

 

This new chedi is 17m in width and 56m high and encloses the original chedi which was only 5m wide and about 17m high.  The inner chedi is gilded and surrounded on all four sides by Buddha image shrines. The new structure is plain and unadorned inside (scruffy, in fact) but impressive outside. There are four smaller versions of the chedi at the corners of the compound.

 

 

 

 

 

These tudong monks form part of the exterior decoration of the chedi.

 

A beautiful viharn elsewhere in the grounds has glass walls, dark green, which mirror the trees, sky and clouds most effectively.

 

 

 

 

 

This illustration of an incident from one of the stories of the Buddha's previous lives decorates the main entrance gate to the wat:

 

The compound is spacious, with plenty of shade and seating. It is quiet and peaceful except when children are being dropped off or collected from the school opposite. The insects here are very noisy, too.

Wat Tung Si Muang, Ubon Ratchathani

    Ubon Ratchathani is just the right distance from Phana to make a good day out. It takes about 45 minutes to drive there, about an hour on the songthaew bus which stops frequently on the way. Mostly these days I go to Ubon for shopping at Big C or Tesco Lotus: there are a few things I can’t do without, such as cereal for breakfast. But I often spend time ‘browsing’ in wats and Wat Tung Si Muang in Ubon is one of my favourites, partly because it isn’t usually very busy but it does have two outstanding features.

 

 

 

    The feature that is made the most of in Tourist Authority literature is the Hor Trai or scripture library. It is more than 150 years old but very well preserved, standing on about twenty stout wooden pillars in a small pond. For several years the scriptures, narrow palm-leaf accordion-shaped books, could be handled because they lay in drawers and cupboards inside the building. But recently they have been removed, hopefully for safer keeping. The hor trai building itself is a mixture of Thai, Burmese and Lao styles. The multiple overlapping roofs reflect the Burmese influence while the carvings over the two gables are Lao, illustrating different animal signs according to traditional astrology as well as various designs based on plant life.

 

 

 

    Less often promoted but in some ways more interesting are the murals in the ubosot. These date from the mid-nineteenth century and as with most wat murals they offer an insight into life at that time as well as illustrating some of the Jataka stories. The murals have not been restored (luckily, I think) so some of them are very faded and some even partially degraded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    There is also a replica of the Buddha’s footprint which was brought from Bangkok during the reign of Rama III.

 

    The ubosot, which is very small, has recently been renovated and repainted on the outside. This picture was taken shortly before the work was completed.

    Wat Tung Si Muang is also home to a school for novices. There are more than 200 students at the school which comprises three years of secondary school and three years of high school. Students come from provinces throughout the northeast and follow a curriculum which mirrors that in ordinary schools but with the added emphasis on Buddhist studies. At the end of the six years, students can either return to lay life, perhaps entering a secular university, or continue their studies at a branch of one or other of the two Buddhist Universities. Ubon and Warin Chamrap have branches of these universities.

 

 

 

 

    Walking around Ubon in the late afternoon and early evening you are likely to come across groups of young novices. Many of them seem to enjoy spending time playing games in the internet and games cafes and making calls on their mobile phones. It is easy to feel critical of this behaviour, seeing it as being unworthy of monks, but it must be remembered that these are NOT monks, they are schoolboys. And while they have obviously not given up all the pursuits that schoolboys enjoy, they have taken on a considerable number of duties and responsibilities that most schoolboys do not, as well as living away from their families, often far away. They should be seen positively, I think, as schoolboys with added value rather than as deficient in some way. They are just learning about the monastic life, after all, and may quite legitimately find it does not suit them.