Loy Kratong & Yee Peng

One thing that Thailand has in abundance is festivals. It's one of my favourite things about living here. There are two festivals in particular that I absolutely love, Songkran and Loy Kratong. Songkran is the Thai new year festival (giant water fight meets street party) in April and Loy Kratong, originally a Brahmanical festival, is a Buddhist/Animist festival that usually takes place in November (11th lunar month of the Thai calendar). In Thai, "loi" or "loy" means to float and a "kratong" is a banana-leaf tray. The story goes that Noppomas, the consort of 14thC Sukothai king Loethai created the first kratong and floated (or loi-ed) it down the palace canals to pass by her lover the king's residence. He was apparently chuffed with the delightful little creation and the rest as they say is history.

It is now believed that if a couple sets off a kratong together their romantic life will be successful. According to Wikipedia, today the festival is both Buddhist and animist in nature: "Apart from venerating the Buddha with light (the candle on the raft), the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one's grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot. People will also cut their fingernails and hair and add them to the raft as a symbol of letting go of the bad parts of oneself. Many Thai believe that floating a krathong will create good luck, and they do it to honor and thank the Goddess of Water, Phra Mae Khongkha."

Though this festival started in Sukothai, the most famous celebrations now take place in Ayutthaya and Chiang Mai. In Chiang Mai the festivities are particularly, well uh, festive, lasting almost a week and including a local festival known as Yee Peng. Most of the kratong activities take place on the Mae Ping, Chiang Mai's main river. You can also see quite a bit going on at the reservoir up at the university. What makes Chiang Mai's Loy Kratong festivities so unique are the abundance of rice paper lanterns know as kum loys. These lanterns range in size and sometime have fireworks attached to them. You can see them being set off in the week leading up to the holiday and usually a few days after as well. They really are a sight to behold and there is something magical about them.

The local festival of Yee Peng is one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. It is really a once in a lifetime experience and something not to be missed if the opportunity to attend arises. It is held at a meditation centre near Maejo University, which is north of the city. It begins with a procession and traditional dancing that stretches a kilometre or so back onto the surrounding roads and slowly winds its way into the centre. After the procession, there is a meditative ceremony where monks and an esteemed abbot lead chanting and meditative reflection. It is a time to reflect on the last year and think about how to let go of old feelings and move forward in peace and happiness. If you're not into slow going ceremonies, then this will probably not hold much interest for you. Also, if you have trouble sitting cross-legged or on the ground for extended periods of time then this will be a bit torturous for you. I did see some people sitting near the back with foldout chairs.

The highlight of the evening comes at the end once the monk chanting and meditation are over. At this stage the volunteer helpers go around and light all the torches that are placed evenly throughout the grounds. Once all the torches are lit, the abbot signals for everyone to start lighting their kum loys (paper lanterns). Though at this stage, you are not supposed to let go of your kum loy until the abbot has done so first. Once he does, everyone simultaneously releases theirs. It is really a spectacular, indescribable, must-see event. There are thousands of lanterns floating up at the same time. This is then followed by quite a good fireworks show that adds to the magic of the evening. I always leave this magical festival feeling peaceful and elated at the same time.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loy_Krathong & http://thailandforvisitors.com/general/holidays/kratong/