The annual temple fair at Wat Thap Kradan in Suphan Buri province was held recently. Every year, around the second week of June, thousands of luk thung fans, hundreds of vendors and a galaxy of luk thung singers descend on the temple to celebrate the life and music of Rajini Pleng Luk Thung (Queen of Thai Country), Pumpuang Duangjan.
Annual temple fair at Wat Thap Kradan. Photos: John Clewley
The late singer, who was born in Suphan Buri to a large family of sugarcane cutters, died tragically young at the age 31 on June 13, 1992. She was cremated shortly after in a royal-sponsored ceremony at the temple which was attended by an estimated 150,000 people. I was at the event and it left a deep impression; people travelled from all over the country to attend the service, some to make a little money from selling photos and memorabilia but most to pay their respects to a wonderfully gifted singer.
I returned to the temple in 2002 after reports from friends that the place had become a huge shrine to the singer. Indeed, there were five shrines and four wax effigies of the singer spread around the temple grounds when I visited. Each shrine was overflowing with messages and gifts to Pumpuang from adoring fans or those hoping for some blessing or a slice of luck from their guardian spirit. One shrine, my favourite, is set next to a pond and a huge tree. The tree, at the time, had been dusted with a white power to stop people rubbing its roots to find lottery numbers. It turns out that Pumpuang's second husband had been at the tree and their son had supposedly found some winning lottery numbers. After that, everyone and their uncle went to the same part of the tree to find a winning number.
Flash forward to the present day and you can hardly find the small shrine by the pond as the tree has now been festooned with colourful flags and over the much-rubbed root, the temple authorities have placed a tank of water for fans to make their wishes, light a candle and float it on a plastic lotus leaf. Not quite the same, but it was still packed with young people making their wishes.
The event has grown massively since I was there in 1992 and 2002. On the way into the temple from the car park, a small stage had been set up for pleng puan bahn (central region folk music) bands to perform, while at the side of the stage a microphone and a backing band were on hand for anyone to step up and sing a favourite Pumpuang song.
Inside the temple, it was hard to find your way around as vendors covered much of the area, but this didn't stop fans from praying and making offerings at each of the shrines. At the main shrine, most people prayed to the spirit Pumpuang for help with their exams, love lives and family circumstances.
The late academic Pattana Kitiarsa argued in an article on the singer that she had become a goddess-like character, part of a popular cult that is partly derived from her short singing career, and partly derived from the mania for lotteries in Thai society; he further argued that the marketing and consumption of her image and name to sell and market products has also helped create her unique appeal. As he says: "Pumpuang as a public persona occupies a very special place in the Thai public memory." And at Wat Thap Kradan you can see the effects of this -- I don't think I've ever seen so many stalls and products on sale in a Thai temple. You can buy all kinds of memorabilia and photos. In fact, I saw many reproductions of a photo I took of the singer just before she died, prominently displayed. I asked the lady selling memorabilia why my photo was on sale and she shrugged her shoulders and gave me a 20 baht keyring with the photo I took for free.
One curious item that brought many fans to the temple is a cheap vanity bureau, often in garish blue or red, with a message or request written on the mirror -- they were everywhere.
Annual temple fair at Wat Thap Kradan. Photos: John Clewley
One of the main reasons to visit the event this year was to see young singers on the main stage. They usually take to the stage before dusk and perform for a few hours before the main acts perform (a who's-who of the luk thung world). Backstage mums were making last minute alterations to costumes and make-up, while others prayed to a makeshift shrine to Pumpuang and chorus line dancers jumped in and out of their lavishly decorated costumes as they changed for each new singer.
Pumpuang, as many readers will know, is credited with modernising pleng luk thung with her more pop-oriented sound (credited to her long-time songwriter, Lop Burirat), dancing and look (that leather jacket and the fake leopard-skin outfit that included a bandanna). These two looks were lovingly created by the upcoming singers, the youngest of whom was just five years old. And they can sing, too. All the singers were good and I found out that everyone in the audience knew all the words so they could sing along as well.
If you are travelling in Suphan Buri I highly recommend that you visit Wat Thap Kradan Temple. It is, as far as I can tell, quite unique. I know of other shrines that are worshipped for specific purposes like fertility or health, but I can't think of another that is dominated by a cult based around a popular singer. In a way, Pumpuang Duangjan has become something of an angel or guardian spirit, someone to pray to for luck and hope.
The buzz on June 16 when we went to the temple was that the two winning last numbers of the lottery were 3 and 1, or the age Pumpuang was when she died. More evidence, some of my Thai friends said, of the power of Pumpuang Duangjan's benevolent spirit.
Annual temple fair at Wat Thap Kradan. Photos: John Clewley
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com
