The iconic religious festival of Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district, the annual Prapheni Rab Bua, is taking place at Wat Bang Phli Yai Nai, a well-known Buddhist temple on the north bank of Samrong canal, from now until Monday. The festival highlights will be tomorrow and Saturday.
Tomorrow morning, from 6am, there will be a beautiful boat procession along the canal. One of the adorned vessels will be carrying a replica of Luang Po To, the temple's highly revered Buddha image, allowing devotees on both sides of the river to pay their respects. At 9.30am, there will be a boat race.
On Saturday, the most important day, the boat procession will once again proceed along the canal. This time, there will be even larger crowds waiting along the banks of the waterway. With lotus flowers in hand, each person will make a wish as the main vessel passes by and offer the flowers to the Buddha image by throwing them onto the boat. It makes for a spectacular sight.
Sunday is the last day of Buddhist Lent, which will be marked by merit-making sessions. On each day of the celebration, at the temple grounds, there will be traditional performances, cultural demonstrations and local delicacies on sale.
For inquiries, call the local office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand on 038-514-009 or visit shorturl.at/eiz37, the temple's Facebook page.
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