Poy Sang Long Ceremony: A Photo Essay

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Poy,means festival or auspicious ceremony



Sang, means monk or novice



Long, derives from the Shan word A-long meaning, prince or monarch



Sang long means dressing up as a prince to ordain



So the three words altogether mean the festival in which a prince enters the monkhood.



I spent parts of the last three days photographing the Poy Sam Long Celebration for Shan boys (Burma's second largest ethnic group) at Wat Pha Pao Temple in the city of Chiang Mai.

As the Christian World celebrates Easter, the Buddhist Calendar in Southeast Asia celebrates the traditional new year next week with a water festival and soon after that rice planting season begins.

The Poy Sam Long Ceremony, for young boys, just before new year and rice planting season is also after school lets out for the summer.

They go from studying with teachers at school to monks at the temple. Perhaps it is a bit like summer camp for a week?

Poy Sam Long is the boys first official encounter with the public world of Buddhism as its representatives and it is their first chance to earn merit for their families as collectors of Buddhist Wisdom (Dharma).

They are treated like little kings or angels as the whole community gathers together around them and carry gifts for the monks who will bless their entrance to the religious community.

Ten monks and ten boys were the center of attention for the last three days.

The first two days they get everything ready and march through town and around the temple.

The last day the parents and community of each boy present gifts to the monks before receiving their monk robes.

It was an opportunity for the men to whoop it up playing music and dancing while the women looked after the rest.

For women, who appeared to much of the work, satisfaction is more subdued but clearly as a result of their good karma they gain a lot of buddhist merit from this event.

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Photos

The Temple Market

Comments

[Sandy]

Wonderful pictures!
You are a great travel writer. I hope some publication will pick you up.

[Helen & Bob]

Poy Sam Long Boys
I admire the look of this ceremony--the colors, the patterns. The boys themselves seem bewildered or self conscious about the whole event--but they're awfully young to grasp the meaning of all this which will have such a profound effect on their whole lives. Thanks for this glimpse of another aspect of life in Chiang mai, Zak, and we send love and Easter Greetings. Miss you!