22.11. A highlight: the Festival of Lights

In the past few days, I have been feeling tired quite often, so I wanted to get a little more sleep the night before the main part of the Festival of Lights in order to start the day relaxed and well-rested. Andra had already gotten up a few hours earlier to attend worship ceremonies, so we met again at a Kratong competition. The official Festival of Lights, Loy Kratong, is named after these Kratongs. They are round boats decorated with flowers and candles that are all set on the river the next day, turning it into a sea of lights. The lanterns that are released into the sky are a special tradition of Chiang Mai and were a highlight of the festivities tonight.

From the Kratong competition, we walked through a huge market that offered everything you can imagine, from dried fruits to clothing and souvenirs, to halves of pigs and live eels twitching in big buckets. We also bought our lanterns for the evening there because we could get them for half the price compared to the main lantern release points.

After that, we strolled through the city, where there were Loy Kratong activities on every corner. Schools and universities, in particular, were very active, and we passed by one school where oversized lanterns made of more stable materials had to be brought up as quickly as possible by various groups and then exploded in a spectacular fireworks display.

Another school organized a traditional dance competition, where many groups of four young girls showed their own choreography. However, it was always obvious that they were performing the same dance, as the poor girls had to crouch down every other beat in the blazing sun and in long robes. Fortunately, I was able to hide in the shade and follow the competition from there.

Since we still had plenty of time and the main temple complex of Chiang Mai was located next to one of the schools, we took the opportunity to visit it. Once again, it became apparent - and this time especially - how backward Buddhism is in regard to women. It often happens that I can go through all temples in shorts and sleeveless shirts, while Andra always has to struggle with a cover-up to be allowed to enter. But this time, women were not allowed to enter the small temple that represented the "pillar" of faith in Chiang Mai.

Apparently, this has often caused confusion, because there was a sign with a brief explanation that revealed one reason: women's menstruation. It is probably not worth discussing and questioning it logically; it is simply an ancient and patriarchal rule that will probably not change anytime soon. Apart from that, the temple was very beautiful, and we spent some time there because there was a lot to see.

Afterwards, we went to a place where we could make our own Kratong from a banana leaf base, banana leaves, and flowers. The leaves were folded into more stable triangles, creating a nest for the candle and flowers with the base. The finished work would be set free on the river tomorrow.

The first real event of the Festival of Lights was about to begin. At a temple under a large tree, which was already adorned with many colorful lanterns, there were a variety of unlit candles. In a solemn ceremony, the monks lit one candle after another until the entire peninsula where the tree stood was a flickering sea of flames. It was an incredibly quiet and reverent moment, reminding us that Loy Kratong is still a spiritual festival of the Buddhists and not just an occasion to release lanterns.

As the ceremony came to an end, we went to the city's main river, the Mae Nam Ping, where many people had already gathered, and from afar, you could see a large column of lanterns in the air. Similar to Christianity, light has the special role of dispelling darkness and is therefore revered. Christmas is also, in the broadest sense, a Festival of Lights. The Romans, who ultimately popularized Christianity, simply adopted the holiday of their sun god and used it as one of the most important holidays of the new religion. It is always incredibly interesting to recognize similarities between different religions and languages, even though they developed independently over time and now have similar cornerstones and details. This shows that we are all fundamentally the same as human beings, even though we may speak of different origins and appearances.

However, the lantern release was also a very beautiful and emotional moment for both of us. Before launching the lantern, you could write good wishes for yourself and your loved ones on it and then carefully light the flammable bottom part. It was important to wait a bit before giving the lantern a little push and watching it join the many others in the sky, becoming part of the swarm of lights and following it until it disappeared from view.

I set another lantern free before we squeezed through the crowd onto a bridge and from there could look over many other parts of the city and discover more columns of lanterns rising. The floating lanterns above the entire city and the crowded bustle around us, from which a new lantern rose every second, created such a special atmosphere that made us simply happy with ourselves and the whole world, looking out into the illuminated night with a constant smile.

It was important to give the lantern some time after lighting it, as enough heat needed to accumulate for it to rise. How often did we see lanterns rise a meter only to turn back towards the crowd on the ground with the burning bottom first? This was, of course, a shame for the "sky sender," but above all dangerous for the people below.

After our lanterns had soared towards the sky, we treated ourselves to a foot massage at the edge of the square with a view of the rising lanterns. My feet and their movements had not felt so flexible and "soft" in a long time. When the massage was over, this very special day came to an end, and we walked back to the hostel, still simply happy, and fell into bed like stones after this long day.