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Vessantara Festival
The Vessantara Festival is one of the 12 monthly Buddhist festivals celebrated yearly in Theravada Buddhist pagodas in memory of Vessantara, remembered as the penultimate life of the Buddha. It is the only previous life of the Buddha which is celebrated with such importance. Rite The festival is usually celebrated in the preaching hall or ''sala'' of the local temple or ''wat'', beginning early in the morning and lasting until midnight. The festival usually takes place yearly for three full days between February and April, during the fourth lunar month. The festival includes a procession of one thousand balls of sticky rice to the temple to symbolize each verse of the long chant.,; the process of listening to the nonstop sermon on the Great Birth at the temple; merit making to transfer it to the deceased relatives and the departure of a "caravan", buffaloes, and oxcart for sale in distant lands. Preparation A few days preceding the feast, stages are built to host to folk ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the extremity of Myanmar. Thailand also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city. Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merit-making
Merit ( sa, puṇya, italic=yes, pi, puñña, italic=yes) is a concept considered fundamental to Buddhist ethics. It is a beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts. Merit-making is important to Buddhist practice: merit brings good and agreeable results, determines the quality of the next life and contributes to a person's growth towards enlightenment. In addition, merit is also shared with a deceased loved one, in order to help the deceased in their new existence. Despite modernization, merit-making remains essential in traditional Buddhist countries and has had a significant impact on the rural economies in these countries. Merit is connected with the notions of purity and goodness. Before Buddhism, merit was used with regard to ancestor worship, but in Buddhism it gained a more general ethical meaning. Merit is a force that results from good deeds done; it is capable of attracting good circumstances in a person's life, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thai Folklore
Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large parts of Thai folklore have become interwoven with the wider popular Thai culture. Phraya Anuman Rajadhon (1888–1969) was the first Thai scholar to seriously study local folkloristics. He took copious notes on humble details of his culture such as the charms used by Thai shopkeepers to attract customers. He also studied in depth the oral literature related to different village spirits and ghosts of Thai lore. Phya Anuman Rajadhon, ''Essays on Thai Folklore,'' Editions Duang Kamol, . Folk beliefs The core of Thai folklore is rooted in folk religion. Until they were recorded, folk beliefs were handed down from one generation to the next. Village shamans are known as ', a word that has its origin in Brahmin, from a general and vague ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laotian Folklore
__NOTOC__ Lao may refer to: Laos * Something of, from, or related to Laos, a country in Southeast Asia * Lao people (people from Laos, or of Lao descent) * The Lao language * Lao script, the writing system used to write the Lao language ** Lao (Unicode block), a block of Lao characters in Unicode * LAO, the international vehicle registration code for Laos Other places * Mount Lao (), Qingdao, China * Lao River, Italy, a river of southern Italy * Lao River, Thailand, a tributary of the Kok River in Thailand * Lao, Bhutan * Lao, Estonia, village in Tõstamaa Parish, Pärnu County * Lao, Togo * LAO, IATA code of Laoag International Airport in the Philippines Philosophers * Laozi or Lao-Tzu, philosopher and poet of ancient China. Other * Alternative spelling of Liu, common Chinese surname * Linear alpha olefin * California Legislative Analyst's Office * Legal Aid Ontario * Legislative Affairs Office * The material lanthanum aluminate Lanthanum aluminate is an inorganic co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambodian Folklore
Cambodian usually refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Cambodia ** Cambodian people (or Khmer people) ** Cambodian language (or Khmer language) ** For citizens and nationals of Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia ** For languages spoken in Cambodia, see Demographics of Cambodia#Languages, Languages of Cambodia Cambodian may also refer to: Other * Cambodian architecture * Cambodian cinema * Cambodian culture * Cambodian cuisine * Cambodian literature * Cambodian music * Cambodian name * Cambodian nationalism * Cambodian descendants worldwide: ** Cambodian Americans ** Cambodian Australians ** Cambodian Canadians ** Cambodians in France See also * *List of Cambodians {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burmese Folklore
Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (horse), a horse given to Queen Elizabeth II * Burmese pony, a breed of horse * Burmese python See also * * :Burmese people * Bamar people, the majority ethnic group in Myanmar * Burmese English, the dialect of English spoken in Myanmar/Burma * Bernese (other) Bernese is the adjectival form for the canton of Bern or for Bern. Bernese may also refer to: * Bernese German, a Swiss German dialect of Alemannic origin generally spoken in the canton of Bern and its capital, and in some neighbouring regions * ... {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southeast Asian Culture
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each separated by 90 degrees, and secondarily divided by four ordinal (intercardinal) directions—northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest—each located halfway between two cardinal directions. Some disciplines such as meteorology and navigation further divide the compass with additional azimuths. Within European tradition, a fully defined compass has 32 'points' (and any finer subdivisions are described in fractions of points). Compass points are valuable in that they allow a user to refer to a specific azimuth in a colloquial fashion, without having to compute or remember degrees. Designations The names of the compass point directions follow these rules: 8-wind compass rose * The four cardinal directions are north (N), east (E), s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahānipāta Jātaka
The ''Mahānipāta Jātaka'', sometimes translated as the ''Ten Great Birth Stories of the Buddha'', are a set of stories from the Jātaka tales (in the Khuddaka Nikāya) describing the ten final lives of the Bodisattva who would finally be born as Siddhartha Gautama and eventually become Gautama Buddha. These jātaka tales revolve around Benares, the current Varanasi in India. The final ten are the best known of the total 547 jātaka tales. In Cambodia and Thailand, they are known as and , respectively ( or the tales of the 10 rebirths). These render the 10 virtues of mankind, that the enlightenment would reveal. These respective virtues are: renunciation, vigour, benevolence, absolute determination, insight, morality, patience, equanimity, reality and generosity. Differences in the order of the stories Synopses 1. Prince Temiya (the crippled mute prince) - Act of renunciation (nekkhamma) ( km, ព្រះតេមិយ th, พระเตมีย์) The infant bodhi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khamsing Srinawk
Khamsing Srinawk ( th, คำสิงห์ ศรีนอก, , ) is a writer from the Isan region of Thailand. He writes under the pen name Lao Khamhom (, ). He was named a National Artist in Literature in 1992 and is best known for his satirical short stories published in his 1958 collection ''Fa Bo Kan'' (, ) The Sky is No Barrier' Benedict Anderson argues that Khamsing is the best known short story writer in Thailand. Early life Born 25 December 1930 in Bua Yai District of Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Khamsing was raised on a farm in the countryside. Khamsing read heavily during his childhood and was encouraged in his studies by his uncle, a Buddhist monk, and other members of his family. He was the sixth of seven children by his parents Suay and Kham Srinawk. After completing schooling in the local Bua Yai government school, he traveled to Bangkok and simultaneously enrolled in the faculty of journalism at Chulalongkorn University and the faculty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, to royal parents of the Shakya clan, but renounced his home life to live as a wandering ascetic ( sa, śramaṇa). After leading a life of begging, asceticism, and meditation, he attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in what is now India. The Buddha thereafter wandered through the lower Indo-Gangetic Plain, teaching and building a monastic order. He taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism, leading to Nirvana, that is, freedom from ignorance, craving, rebirth, and suffering. His teachings are summarized in the Noble Eightfold Path, a training of the mind that includes meditation and instruction in Buddhist ethics such as right effort, mindfulness, and '' jhana''. He di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phra Malai
Phra Malai Kham Luang ( th, พระมาลัยคำหลวง, ) is the royal version of a Thai legendary poem of the Sri Lankan monk Arhat Maliyadeva, whose stories are popular in Thai Theravada Buddhism. The vernacular version is known as Phra Malai Klon Suat. Phra Malai is the subject of numerous palm-leaf manuscripts (in Thai ''bai lan)'', folding books (in Thai ''samut khoi''), and artworks. His story, which includes concepts such as reincarnation, merit, and Buddhist cosmology, was a popular part of Thai funeral practices in the nineteenth century. Legend of Phra Malai Phra Malai, according to the various versions of the story, was a Buddhist monk who accumulated so much merit that he acquired great supernatural abilities. Using his powers, he traveled to the various Buddhist hells, where he meets the suffering denizens and is implored to have their living relatives make merit on their behalf. He later traveled to the heavenly realms of the devas, Trāyastriṃ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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