A festival for the end of Buddhist Lent
To mark the end of three-month Buddhist Lent, Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli Municipality will host the annual Rab Bua (Lotus Receiving) festival on Oct 4.
The festival dates back to the days when people still commuted by boat along Samrong Canal. It was said that there were lotus fields along the waterway in Bang Phli that were in full bloom during the month of October. The flowers attracted people from nearby communities, including the Muang and Phra Pradaeng districts, to paddle their boats to collect the finest lotus flowers, to offer them to the sacred Luang Phor To Buddha image in Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai, at the end of Buddhist Lent.
At that time, those who lived along the canal somehow started to pick the lotuses and gave them to visitors along with food and drink, as a welcoming gesture. The giving of lotus flowers was believed to be the start of the modern-day Rab Bua festival. The event has recently been promoted as the only lotus-receiving ceremony along the waterway in the Kingdom.
The festival is organised for the morning of the day before the end of Buddhist Lent Day. This year, the end of Buddhist Lent Day — or Wan Oak Phansa — is Oct 5.
To celebrate, Bang Phli Municipality will host the four-day festival from Oct 1-4, including the flower parade on the first day, offering alms to monks along the canal on the morning of Oct 2 and a beauty contest on Oct 3.
The highlight is on Oct 4, when a barge carrying a replica of the Luang Pho To seated Buddha image will cruise along the canal from Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai to Wat Bang Phli Yai Klang.
Each year the festival draws thousands of devotees. The crowd will stand along each side of the canal offering lotuses to the image by tossing them onto the barge. There will also be a boat parade joining the Rab Bua. The event will start around 7am and last until 11am. There will also be performances at the Bang Phli district office.
Call the Bang Phli municipality office at 02-337-8086 or the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s local office at 038-514-009, or its call centre on 1672.