The Monk's Elephant Procession (Thailand Local Custom)

The Monk's Elephant Procession
(Thailand Local Custom at Sukhothai)

The Elephant Procession Ordination in Sri Satchanalai

     The monks to be riding elephants , known as "The Elephant Procession Ordination" is an old ceremony celebrating the ordainment of monks of the Thai Puan tribe in Ban Had Siew, Sri Sachanalai District, Sukhothai .

       It is a tradition that all Thai Puan men must serve in the priesthood for at least 7 days. Thus, the day for riding the elephants and the ordainment are held on April 7th and the 8th respectively of each year. This means the monks leave the priesthood on April 15th, or “Paya Wan" day which is a very auspicious day for the Thai people, since it is the original Thai New Year Day.

Note: The monks to be are called "Naga" in Thai.

The monks to be’s traditional attire

      In the morning, the young men of the village who are to be ordained will have their hair and eyebrows shaved, take a bath and be dressed by their parents and relatives. They will wear long sleeved white shirts and Pa Muang (a Thai sarong worn by men), which are deemed to be sacred attire. Although the clothes are costly, they will be cast off the next morning, symbolizing that to enter the priesthood is to leave material possessions behind.

     Nowadays, the clothes are more colorful, representing the temporary nature of desire. Likewise, they will be thrown off, to free the monks from all worldly concerns. The silver buttons decorating the costumes may be 8 ,12 or 32 in number and refer to many duties they take while they are laymen . The colors of the shirts also represent their various occupations.

     On their heads, the young men wear a "headdress ", adapted from the costume worn by the god’ lndra, which frames their faces with a tail at the back. In their hands they hold a circular  representation  of  the  sacred  Naga snake  and devotional   items flowers,  joss   sticks  and  candles . The circular Naga's head is known as "Sakkatjang '', which means "with respect" to show that although monks in the Buddhist era came from different classes and castes, they all assume the common trait of "humility" upon entering the priesthood.

Elephants Bringing The Monk to His Destination

     In olden times, elephants were one of the most important beasts of war. In times of peace, elephants worked in the forest hauling the logs. Thus, they became the only large animal to forge an especially close relationship with man.

     Elephants are the preferred mode of transportation for the Thai Puan people's ordination ceremony, since the ritual is based upon the tale of "Phra Vessandara Chadok" one of the Lord Buddha's former incarnations. The story relates that the Siphee people became upset when Phra Vessandara bestowed an elephant named "Pajjai Naken" upon a Brahman holy man from Kalingkarat city. Phra Vessandara therefore left the city to live in the forest. When the city folk later came to understand his good intentions and forgave him, their King Sanchai arranged a procession of specially selected elephants to accompany Phra Vessandara back to the city.

     Therefore, riding elephants in this ceremony serves to remind us of not only of the procession colorful history, but also the true meaning of Dhamma as well.