CORNUCOPIA
Rural communities help keep alive the spirit of the past by treating eating as a holy service
Food and faith have always gone side by side in Thailand’s communal religious activities.
In the past, food and religion were seen as inseparable parts of daily life by Thais. There are several reasons behind this thinking — some that one may say represents the Thai spirit. Many of the rituals showing this connection between food and faith are nowhere to be seen in Bangkok, but can be found across some rural provinces. These kept-up acts respectfully and gracefully try to preserve the ancient practices of our forefathers.
Wan koan — a term scarcely familiar to modern Bangkokians — refers to the day before Buddhist Holy Day. The term translates to “shaving day”, indicating the time when monks and villagers prepare for the local ordination ceremony, which usually takes place the following day.
Villagers usually go shopping for food for the alms giving ceremony around this time.
In the past, the central region, including Bangkok and its neighbouring provinces, relied on waterways for commerce and transport. Floating markets were especially lively places. Boats selling fresh meat, including pork, chicken, fish and duck, would have extra supplies for shoppers preparing for wan koan. The same goes for seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as other key cooking ingredients.
If you didn’t live near a floating market, boats would travel to the nearby canals, calling out to their regular customers to inform them that everything was available for purchase.
On Buddhist Holy Day, the temple bells ring out at 4.30am, waking up the monks and their neighbours. When they are ready, the priests proceeded to collect the alms.
Some monks get into boats, large enough for roughly one person. With what little space is left, they place the monk’s alms bowl, a pinto (a multi-layered food container) and occasionally some other bowls to place extra food. People wait with rice and food in front of their homes.
As part of the three-month-long Buddhist Lent, Buddhist Holy Day is celebrated with extensive menus, delivered to the temple in specially made haab (hawker’s containers). The haab used for this particular occasion is elegantly crafted and never used for any other ceremonies.
After arriving at the temple, visitors help arrange food for the monks. The monks speak with visitors to show gratitude and offer them their good wishes. Once the monks are done collecting meals, villagers can sit down and eat. This is the typical procedure for Buddhist Holy Day.
This beautiful way of life has since disappeared from some parts of Thailand’s central region, especially the capital city. People here rarely mention wan koan. They no longer ring the temple bell at dawn. Monks leave their residences in late morning. They no longer leave to collect alms. Instead, they wait at certain places in markets where people can buy readymade meals to hand over in a matter of a few minutes.
However, some rural areas still offer scenes of these traditions. In the Amphawa district of Samut Songkhram, the temple bell still rings in time with tradition and the monks can be seen seated in their small boats, en route to offering their daily blessings and collecting alms from people. Priests in Chiang Mai still walk their usual route when the sun is out and shining.
In some Isan provinces such as Yasothon, elderly community members still assemble at the temple and arrange a proper meal for the monks.
One place where you can still see how food and religion interact in a daily way is Wat Tarn Lom in Bang Saen, Chon Buri. A four-day festival held at the end of January exhibits this most, bringing residences together, while generating revenue for the temple.
Nearly three decades ago, villagers organised a ceremony to commemorate the death of a former abbot who was deeply respected.
A dessert seller from the nearby Nong Mon market brought the late abbot’s favourite kanom krok (Thai coconut-rice pancakes) for the event. She donated all sales of the dessert to the temple.
She repeated this tradition for several years, with other dessert sellers joining in and offering up a delicious array of Thai desserts.
Since then, this time of year is known as the best for sampling all the local sweets.
The festival has now evolved beyond desserts. Adjacent areas abundant with coconuts, vegetables and seafood donate their daily catch or harvest to the temple for free. Local cooks have also pitched in with their skills.
For them, working at the temple is akin to doing good deeds. The temple and community make these festive events happen every year, with each occasion being modified to perfect it.
On my visit this year, everything looked to be running efficiently. The work is divided into two key parts — cooking for sale and cooking to feed the event’s workers.
Several menus, spanning the sweet to the savoury, are available. The dessert kitchen starts particularly bright and early, and is ready for clients to dig into by around 4pm.
The cooks tend to stick to their specialties. I spotted stalls serving boiled rice with king mackerel, fried mussels, fish’s maws, fried tofu with dipping sauce, and many more — all ready for sale also at 4pm.
Another area of the temple is reserved for the working crowds. Three meals are cooked for them per day. The head chef is usually a veteran lady with extensive culinary experience. She delegates tasks in the kitchen and decides on what to buy.
The festival at Wat Tarn Lom is a big, well-known event. What the festival exemplifies is not only the talents of some exceptional cooks and creations, but living proof of how Thais and their neighbours love to come together through good deeds for something they all believe in.