I don't remember the name of this temple, but it was a great stop on our tour of Ayutthaya. And like the last temple we visited, I was invited again to pray.
At this temple people offered clothes to the Buddha, a golden-orange robe which they presented on a little tray. The room was packed, and everyone was kneeling on the floor in front of the giant statue. The prayer was led by a charismatic monk who chanted into a microphone. He and his young assistant walked around the crowd and gathered the robes, and then blindly tossed them one by one over their shoulders to a handful of men who were standing up high above on the Buddha's lap. After the prayer was finished, and the robes where all collected and offered up to the Buddha, the guys up on the Buddha's lap threw the long robes back down over the crowd, covering everyone in the golden-orange cloth, and then pulled them back up onto the Buddha's lap. I thought the whole process was actually kind of entertaining.
This is awesome! You are seeing things in Thailand that most tourists do not see, thanks to your good friends.
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