Ceremony in the street in Hua Hin – Thailand

This a somewhat long post (30 shots) of a ceremony I came across in the streets of Hua Hin in Thailand during Christmas break. Getting of the main temple in the center of the city we came across the person above dancing of a building at the sound of loud reggae type music. 

This happen to be in the honor of a your man turning 20, the one you can see with a shaved head in some shots after.

I am not a specialist, I believe this guy is going to become a monk for a certain  time. Kids in Buddhist countries often spend some time in monasteries for their education but in Thailand they cannot spend any time as a monk until they reach 20 and it seems this is quite mandatory in a man’s life.

The parade involved a group of people walking the whole city center area around the temple. Carrying alms as above.

Dancing as the sound of a band, plating from the top of a lorry.

There i some support for the guy carrying alms or umbrellas, the pink bucket is for quench his thirst.

The birthday boy and the older lady below are paraded on cycle rickshaws.

More dancing …

and drinking

The auntie had a lot of energy and  good sense of rhythm.

I am not sure if they are strictly singers or also MC’s my command of Thai is very poor.

That was a very enjoyable moment, I really love shooting these events, and the lovely Thai people seemed not to matter my presence.

• Color shots: Leica M262+Summicron 35mmF2
• Black and White shots: Leica M6+Summicron 50mmF2 + kodak tri-x

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NORTH THAILAND TRIP – PART 3 – WAT CHAIWATTHANARAM -AYUTTHAYA

Ayutthaya is a city with many temples. Our second stop was at thee Wat Chaiwatthanaram. This temple is visible from a big distance for his big cheddi or stupa.

After the very active Wat Phanan Choeng , Wat Chaiwatthanaram, is quiet one, mostly in ruins which apparently suffered from the flooding of 2011. You can find on the web beautiful, if not sad, pictures of the compound surrounded by waters.

The site is very interesting, mostly by its big cheddi and the hall with broken statues of the sitting Buddha. The compound is very nice to walk and close to the river.

Mihintale – Sri Lanka

Mihintale is a mountain peak near Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka. It is believed by Sri Lankans to be the site of where Buddhism started in Sri Lanka.
It is now a pilgrimage site, and the site of several religious monuments and abandoned structures.

The old monk keeping the image room of the dagoba on top of Mihintale hill

On top of the hill is a large Dagoba that can be seen from afar. A the back is the image room with its statue of reclining Buddha. This old monk invited us to have a look, leave our appreciation on the visitors look and offering. One opportunity to take the Hassie out of the bag.

The Daboba and prayer flags

The Rock opposite

Opposite le Dagoba is another rock which top one can climb, the surrounding landscape is breath taking, with a lot of water expanses that were man made if I remember well. You can also see old brick Dabogas under the vegetation.

The Buddha statue

A large statue of the Buddha can also be found on one side of the hill.

The Daboga at half height

This smaller Daboga can be found at half the height or the hill. At its back is a monastery.

Japanese Pilgrim

On our way down we met a group of Japanese Pilgrims chanting their way up the peak to spend the night at the monastery (so were we told). Apparently they come once a year for this.

Anuradhapura – Sri Lanka

Jetavana Dagoba

We spent our second day in Sri Lanka in Anuradhapura. This is a region of archaeological remains and Buddhists temples situated at the 2/3rds of the country height. Roughly 250 km from Colombo and 5 good hours driving from the airport due to the roadworks. It is not yet what used to be called the “north” during the civil war.

Thuparama Dagoba

There are many sites of interest around the region and according to our guide you can spend a couple of days cycling around visiting different dagobas and palace or monastery ruins.

Thuparama Dagoba

Other particular interest are the Sri Maha Bodhi, a Bodhi planted 300 years BC; the massive Jetavana Dagoba, The Samadhi Buddha Image, the nice cave temple called Isurumuniya Rajamaha Viharaya.

Lankaramaya Dagoba

“Dagoba” is the local word for Stupa, a religious building made to contain relics or remains (you cannot enter them). What is typical of Sri lanka are the stone pillars thatare surrounding the stupa. They were mean to support a long gone wooden roof.

Around the Sri Maha Bodhi

We stayed at Ulagalla resort a in between Anuradhapura and Kandi.

Namo Buddha – Nepal

Namo Buddha - Offerings

Camera: NikonD700
Lens: Nikkor 50mm F1.4 AI
Processing:LR3+PS Elements 4.0

Botataung Paya -Yangon – Burma

Botataung Paya -Yangon - Burma

Nun lighting some offerings in from of one of the many shrines in the Botataung Paya in Yangon. Nuns wear a very colorful uniform in Burma, compare to here  (Singapore) where they mostly come in gray or maroon.

Camera:Nikon D700
Lens: Nikkor 80-200F2.8D
Retouches: Lightroom 3