Buddhist Lent

Last week marked the beginning of Buddhist Lent, also known as Vassa or Phansa in Thailand. 95% of Thais are Buddhist, so it was basically a national, not a religious, holiday. In case you haven't noticed, Jeff and I are not Buddhist, so we didn't have a clue what Phansa was all about. We read a few articles, and learned a little bit more about it. We don't pretend to be experts, but the following is our best understanding :)

Phansa lasts the throughout the rainy season (usually about three months). On the first day of Phansa, also called Khao Pansa, Bhikkhu (Buddhist monks) move inside their temple, where they will pray and meditate until the end of Phansa. Traditionally holy men did not travel during the rainy season for fear of damaging the crops. Gautama Buddha (Buddha himself) continued this tradition and it was incorporated into the practice of Buddhism.

Monks are not the only ones to observe Phansa. On Asalha Puja, the day before the monks retreat to the temple for prayer and reflection, lay Buddhists give candles and offerings to the temples. During Phansa most lay Buddhists abstain from drinking leading an "inappropriate" lifestyle in order to intensify their spiritual connections. In Thailand it is common for the laity (usually young males) to take monastic vows at the beginning of Phansa and remain in a temple until Ork Pansa (the end of Phansa).

Before we learned a little more about Phansa, we just knew there was some big holiday coming up, but we weren't sure how it was celebrated and what effect it would have on us (i.e. stores closing, big parades, etc.). Since our hotel is not near any major temples, we didn't notice much in terms of celebration or effects, with two exception. On Wednesday Jeff and I were returning from a mini-vacation to Phuket. We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel (about 18 miles). Things were moving along until we hit town and ended up in a dead stop. We were on a main road with no shortcuts, so we were stuck in traffic like this for about an hour. It turns out there was a procession of school children on the road making offerings to a temple. Normally every Friday night Shenanigans, a local Irish restaurant, serves all you can eat ribs for about $10. A group of us were very excited for the ribs last week so we headed over to the mall where Shenanigans is located. As we approached the restaurant we noticed that the specials board on the first floor hadn't been changed since Wednesday. That should have been our first clue, but we still went upstairs only to notice there was no one sitting outside and the lights were off. The sign on the door confirmed our suspicions and informed us that the restaurant was closed on Thursday and Friday because of the holiday. While we were very disappointed (we REALLY wanted ribs) someone remembered that a British pub which had been closed for renovations just reopened. We headed over there and happily found ribs on the menu, thus saving us from a rib-free night :)