The Hua Hin Municipality will organize the Annual Budhist Lent Festival again this year to mark the 3-month period of the rainsretreat by Buddhist monks, said Mr. Natthaphol Wannaphuti, the Permanent Secretary of Hua Hin Municipality. The event will take place at Phon Kingphet Memorial Park in Hua Hin from 31 July to 1 August 2012.
On 31 July, there will be a candle molding ceremony and music performances from 5 – 8.30 p.m. and on 1 August, there will be a candle procession ceremony starting at 8 a.m. onwards. All the candles made from the ceremony will be provided to temples in Hua Hin municipal areas. As the Buddhist Lent falls on 3 August this year, all Buddhist temples in Hua Hin will hold a Buddhist Lent ceremony to mark the rains-retreat on that day.
For the duration of Buddhist Lent or Khao Phansa in Thai, Buddhist monks remain inside monasteries and temple grounds. In some monasteries, they dedicate the time to intensive meditation. Some Buddhist lay people choose to observe the period by adopting more ascetic practices, such as giving up meat, alcohol, or smoking. In Thailand, besides making merit at temple and observe Buddhist precepts, Thai people hold a candle molding and a candle procession ceremony. Following Buddhist beliefs, offering candles to Buddhist monks will make ones intelligent.
