Market Friday: Loy Krathong at Yannawa Temple.

I was very glad to make the trip to Yannawa temple to observe the Loy Krathong festival in late afternoon. I could foresee that the temple would be very noisy and crowded, so I expected that all stray cats would be in hiding. But I took two sachets with me, in case I could find some cats looking for food. I arrived two hours early so I could move around easily. Once crowds started to arrive around sunset, it would be too crowded to be able to walk briskly.

I was quite impressed by the layout of food stalls, the organisation of novices and monks, including the layouts of Buddha statues by the waterfront. I didn’t join in temple festivals for ages as I preferred more quiet surroundings. But the festivities at Yannawa temple changed my mind completely. I did enjoy having my senses being bombarded with attractive food stalls and the flows of people of all ages into the temple ground.

The atmosphere became very lively and exuberant from six o’ clock. Students from nearby schools helped making banana vessels (Krathongs) to raise money for renovation and construction work in the temple. Earlier in the day, there was competition in making the best Krathongs. The work on the first prize was very detailed and intricate. I would have to learn to make proper Krathong one day.

It was fun observing students coming in groups to float their Krathongs. This was some kind of family gathering day. The festival gave people a very good excuse to meet up with friends and families so that they could perform the rituals together. People would go around paying their respects to Buddha statues placed at different corners of the temple yard. A monk would be available for sprinkling holy water for those who wanted special blessings.

The atmosphere by the river was very nice and warm as all visitors were in good spirits and friendly. The food vendors seemed to be very happy with many eager customers. The monks responsible for taking care of each station seemed somewhat exhausted. They has been busy organising and decorating the temple during the past two days. I saw them chopping banana stems for making Krathongs the previous day. I wondered from where they got these banana trees. These monks and novices have been working very hard to give visitors good experiences and memories of this special Loy Krathong festivities.

As I had expected, all the stray cats disappeared from the car park and yard. I was partly worried about some cats recognising me and came out to greet me. Instead, I saw a new stray cat by the riverfront sniffing around for food. He was very hungry that’s why he came out among the crowd. Luckily I had two wet foy sachets with me, so I could feed him some wet food. Some young students tried to approach the cat but they didn’t know how to do this gently. I had to show them how not to frighten the cat.

As it got darker, more people approached the riverfront to float their Krathongs. The temple had not seen so many visitors loke this for a long time, may be about five years! Lots of people no longer had their masks on their faces. So, it was good to see more people shedding their fear and insecurity. Lung cancer has become the top disease instead of colon cancer in Thailand this year. I have been disseminating alternative websites and information to people around me so that they could make informed decisions about their health.

Suddenly the sky became dark and the temple was brightly lit with spot lights. I had enough time to pay respect to the old Buddha statue on the Chinese ship model. Some old Buddha statues did give out very nice and electrifying energies. I should not take things for granted and remind myself to pay homage to old energy sources in the temple. Sometimes I was too busy feeding stray cats that the temple was closed by the time I finished feeding these cats.

The large numbers of people in the temple and lines of food stalls made me feel as if things have returned to usual routine oncd again in Bangkok. People were having a good time and they were willing to spend money to celebrate festivals. The flowing streams of people and activities at food stalls made me very hopeful. People have decided to get on with living a good life and making their livings as best they could.

The organising team of the temple was very relieved that lots of visitors turned up for the festival. I hoped that some vendors would leave some leftovers for the stray cats. I would have to check out some small kittens soon after the staff have cleaned up the temple yard.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.

#marketfriday created by @dswigle