Portrait | Guests | Offering | Feast

Final Offering | Rocket | Ignition | Fire

A Monk's Funeral Main
The Thailand Galleries Main

 

At a temple outside of Chiang Mai, near the town of Mae Rim, the body of the monk has been placed in a coffin sheltered by a temporary mock temple--designed to be flammable.

As guests arrive--and there will be hundreds of them--they light incense and make a prayer before a portrait of the monk as a young man.
Nearby is a photo board that documents the life of this monk, from childhood photos up to the preparation of his corpse for incineration. This monk has not died recently, however. His body has been preserved for about a year. I was told that the more senior the monk, the longer his body is saved--up to two or three years for the very important.

 

Portrait | Guests | Offering | Feast

Final Offering | Rocket | Ignition | Fire

A Monk's Funeral Main
The Thailand Galleries Main