Colorful initiation ceremony in Surin

If you want to make a nice trip for next week, the annual initiation party of young men entering the monastery in the province of Surin might be a nice idea. The festival, which lasts for three days from May 18 to 20, is accompanied by a colorful parade of novice monks who are transported on the back of elephants.

Baan Ta Klang

The festival takes place in the Kui village of Baan Ta Klang, home to Thailand's largest mahout community. A village in Surin province marks the ordination of the young men with a parade on the back of an elephant. The Kui, a Khmer-speaking ethnic group, are famous for taming and training wild elephants. They were already doing this when the elephants were used by kings and warlords. Today they train the descendants of the original animals for tourism, but the Buddhist ritual of leading the novices by elephant to the temple for initiation is a tradition that has also become a tourist attraction.

Elephants

The elephant has long played an important role in Buddhism as a symbol of mental strength and is often depicted in wall paintings and used as a statue at the entrance of temples. The pachyderms have also always worked in the tourist sphere by entertaining tourists in all kinds of ways. That practice has now become considerably less, but during the ritual in Surin you can admire the elephants, cared for and painted by the mahout, up close.

Preparation

Work begins days before ordination, the pachyderms patiently standing as they are washed, painted, and cared for by their loving mahouts. Finely embroidered velvet carpets are placed on their heads and backs, while their skins are painted with colorful motifs.

The young Kui novices also dress specially for the occasion. They are dressed in traditional crimson sarongs, white shirts and a brightly colored cloak. With colorful crowns on their heads and their faces also made up, the young men look more like young princes than monks-to-be.

The consecration

On ordination day, the 30 elephants walk in a majestic parade from Ta Klang along the water of the Chi River to the temple.

In days gone by, long before a chapel was available for consecration, the initiation took place on the sandbanks and small islands in the river, paying homage to one Prince Siddharta, who died there.

If you go

Surin is located 430 kilometers east of Bangkok, which takes about five or six hours by private transport. Buses for Surin depart daily from Bangkok North Terminal (Mor Chit).

AirAsia offers direct flights from Bangkok to Buriram. The Elephant Village is about an hour's drive from the airport.

Source: The Nation