"The priests' garments being neatly folded and put up into bundles of a suit each, are borne with the King in the royal throne barge. When he arrives at the landing of a temple, he remains seated until several suits of the yellow robes have been carried up to the door and put in care of an official, to await the approach of His Majesty, and until other officers of state and a company of infantry, together with the musicians, have had time to leave their boats and place themselves in position for receiving him. The handrails of the steps which the King ascends are wound with white cotton cloth, and the flagged path from the landing to the temple is covered with grass matting exclusively for him to walk upon. When the King is in the act of ascending the steps of the landing, 'Old Siam' blows her pipes and conch shells, and beats her drums; the military form in double line and present arms, and the brass band plays the national anthem.
"Having reached the door of the 'bote', the King takes one suit of the priests' robes, and bearing it in both hands, walks in and lays it on a table prepared for that purpose. On this table are five golden vases of flowers, five golden dishes of parched rice, tastefully arranged in the form of bouquets, five golden candlesticks with their candles, and five incense sticks. His Majesty first lights the candles and incense sticks. He then worships before the sacred shrine of Buddha, the sacred books, and the assembled priests. He next makes a request to the chief priest to renew his covenant to observe the five rules of the Buddhist religion. These are, first, that he will not take the life of any man or other sentient creature; second, that he will not oppress any man; third, that he will not take to wife any woman belonging to another, while there is the least unwillingness on the part of the woman, or of her parents or of her guardians, to the transaction; fourth, that he will not lie, nor deal falsely with mankind, nor use abusive language; fifth, that he will not use intoxicating liquors as a beverage. When the King visits the temple, if it happens to be one of their four sacred days, their custom makes it necessary for him to promise to observe three other rules in addition to the above five; first, that he will not partake of any food after midday on any sacred day until the next morning after light has appeared; second, that he will not on sacred days indulge in any theatrical or musical performances, nor in any way allow or cause his person to be perfumed; third, that he will not on such days sleep on a bed that is more than ten and a half inches high, nor use any mattress, and that he will deny himself as becometh a devout Buddhist. If the King is conscious of having transgressed any of these rules since he last renewed his obligations, he is supposed to confess his sins mentally before Buddha, and promise solemnly that he will earnestly endeavour to avoid such sins in the future.
"His Majesty having renewed his obligations, then proceeds to make a formal presentation of his offerings to the priests of that temple, whereupon they respond in the Pali tongue, 'sâdhu, sâdhu' ('well, well'). The chief priest then addresses the fraternity as follows: 'This "Katin" robe has been given to us by his most illustrious majesty, the King, who, being endued with exceedingly great goodness and righteousness, has condescended to come hither himself and present these garments to us, a company of Buddhist priests, without designating any particular person by whom they shall be worn.' They then distribute the gifts amongst themselves, after which they bow down and worship Buddha, reciting a few Pali sentences. This distribution of garments is not always done in the presence of the King, but sometimes after he has left the temple. The late King Maha Mongkut made an innovation on this old custom, by bringing with him extra suits of yellow robes and giving them to certain priests who had distinguished themselves as Pali scholars. It is also usual to make a few other gifts to the priests, of such things as they are apt to need, as bedding, boats, and table furniture, but these are not considered any part of the real 'Katin.'
"As the King is about to leave the temple, the priests pronounce a Pali blessing upon him, and he again worships Buddha, the sacred books, and the priests. Then rising, he walks out of the 'bote,' and descends to the royal barge, with the same ceremonies as when he ascended. He visits several temples during each day, and spends some time in each one. The value of each priest's suit which the King offers, is supposed to be about ten Mexican dollars, and the aggregate value of the offerings he makes on these successive days is probably not less than ten thousand Mexican dollars."
Song Kran. Song Kran is an angel who rises with the sun when he enters the sign Aries. The date of the holidays held and ceremonies performed under this title is ruled by the sun, and is not definitely fixed. But each successive year the court astrologers announce the event, and then for four days the celebrations take place. The King takes a state shower-bath, and invites the priests to assemble at the palace for prayers and breakfast. The laity have their own special religious services and their own amusements. They gamble and pray, go to the theatres and temples, feed the priests and feed themselves as they do at New Year. Buddha's image is bathed by the old women, who also sprinkle water over the elderly people and priests present, with the idea of calling down blessings on those who are bathed, as well as on themselves. As a general rule the ceremonies begin about the eleventh or twelfth day of April.
Kan Wisakha Bucha. This is the name of the holidays connected with a very important day in the Buddhist calendar—namely, the day on which Buddha was born. According to the tradition, it is also the day on which he died, and the day on which he attained Nirvana. This anniversary day has developed into a three days' celebration, of which the most noticeable feature is the extensive alms-giving that is then practised in imitation of Buddha's benevolent deeds. At night, illuminations on a small scale take place, but there is no great state function.
Khauwasa is derived from the Sanskrit "Varasha", meaning "rain" or "year." The Wasa season lasts from July 8th to October 4th, and has already been mentioned as the period of Buddhist Lent or confinement. The priests only, fast and do penance, and even for them there are no fixed rules, except that which forbids them to remain outside the temple enclosure between midnight and dawn. Several forms of self-mortification have been invented, such as spending the night in a cemetery, thinking of death; sleeping in uncomfortable postures, and only eating once in twenty-four hours. But if the penitent gets tired of doing penance, he may give it up. He will still retain all the merit he has made by what he has already done, though of course the quantity to his credit is less than it would have been had he persevered to the end.
The general ceremonies for the people begin at the end of the period of confinement. The food given to the priests at this time is a first-class investment, as it purchases one hundredfold its value in heavenly entertainments in the very next existence. Everyone therefore is very anxious to secure a hungry priest for his guest.
[Kaw Prasai]. The ground surrounding the different monasteries is always covered with sand, so that in wet weather the feet of the priests may not get covered with mud as they walk from their cells to the temple. Once each year fresh sand is brought and built up into little hills in the temple grounds; hence the above name, "Kaw" meaning "to build," "pra" meaning "holy" and "sai" "sand." The building of these holy sand-hills is a substitute, amongst the poorer classes, for the more laborious and expensive way of making merit, involved in the erection of a prachadee. The sand is moulded as nearly as possible in the form of the spiral relic mounds, and is ornamented with small flags. The sand is bought from the monastery, which thus obtains money for building purposes, or for the purchase of more sand for the courtyard. Small coins are placed in the holy hillocks, and these become the property of those who find them when the hillocks are demolished.