A Festival of Lights

November 15, 2016

At the end of October, our Indian friends celebrated Dewali, the festival of lights.  Tim received a nice greeting from his staff in India.

May Deepawali, the festival of lights, illuminate your life 

and bring the shower of glory, prosperity, health and peace!

Now it is the end of thirty-day official mourning period for the Late His Majesty King Buhmibol Adulyadej.  (The government just announced that "the Great," Maha in Thai, will be added to his name after the royal funeral rites have been completed.)  Wearing black is no longer a requirement, and festivities may resume.  Of course, many are choosing to continue wearing black, either for the one-hundred day period of chanting by the monks, or even for an entire year.  Government workers are required to continue for the entire year.  Tributes and memorials continue to take place throughout the region - some elaborately planned, some quite spontaneous.  Another big tribute is planned for this Saturday evening on Beach Road in Pattaya.

 Ford employees gathered to pay tribute to the late king

a tribute in a small roadside lot

The ending of the thirty days coincided with Thailand's Loy Krathong festival, the festival of lights and goddess of the waters.  They were celebrating Loy Krathong the day we arrived in Thailand to start our assignment, so it is a significant day for us.  It was a very subdued affair this year.  We didn't participate, but friends went to Beach Road Monday night for the activities.   No fireworks or Chinese lanterns this year, just launching the krathongs into the water.  These little "rafts" are made from a slice of a banana tree trunk beautifully decorated with flowers and leaves, incense and candles.  I think most Thais grow up learning how to make them, and the results are beautiful.

Thanks to Mika for this lovely picture!

Flowers are a huge part of Thai culture, and are used in every kind of celebration or ritual.  Our church is always full of beautiful, colorful flowers, the way our church at home might be for Easter.  On the feast of our patron saint, St. Nikolaus, the church was scrubbed to a shine, and flowers completely covered the front of the altar.

flowers in ordinary time

The altar completely covered in flowers for our feast day

Just a day later, the entire globe basked in the light of the brilliant Super Moon.  Our condo affords us views of both the eastern and western skies.  So I took pictures of the moon in the evening, then was awaken by the bright light of the moon shining in my face just after five a.m.  My pictures were not so clear, but I have enjoyed the pictures being shared from around the world - just stunning.

Night view

As morning breaks