The city of Chiang Mai was once the capital of a kingdom called Lanna. The Lanna people, as well as their language and customs, still persist in northern Thailand, influencing the culture and the local dialect.
In the past couple weeks, finished with training for school and awaiting our journey north, Bailey and I have explored much more of Chiang Mai and nearby areas, getting to know more about the local peoples and their history.
To celebrate the end of the rainy season and the coming of winter, or the cool season, there are two important Buddhist festivals held around the same time each year, Loy Krathong Festival and Yi Peng Lantern Festival. They usually take place around the beginning of November, so they haven’t happened yet, but preparations are already well underway. (If interested, you should definitely look up the history of each festival.)
We met the “master lantern maker” in Chiang Mai, an elderly man who receives orders of up to 10,000 lanterns each year for the November festivals, and he makes each one himself by hand. Not only did we meet him, but he also gave us a lesson in lantern making. Bailey and I each made our own lantern, and it took us four hours to complete them (whereas the master could have made each in about an hour). Each one is made from bamboo, traditional paper or light fabric, and (traditionally, sticky-rice-) glue.
The skill and artistry this man possesses is incredible to witness, and even so, he was kind and humble and understanding as Bailey and I did our best to replicate his work in a single afternoon. Our guides told us that he was happy to share the knowledge of his craft and customs with us, so we could take it home and share it with our own families. He also said that he’d be calling us up to fill some of his lantern orders in the future, and then he laughed a lot.
Be sure to check out the photos I’ll post, because these lanterns are probably not what you’re expecting. Yes, there are the floating lanterns sent up into the sky, as well as those they float down the river (both important to the symbolism of these festivals), but the lanterns, I’m talking about are different. These lanterns, with different shapes and colors, are hung in temples, store fronts, and around homes, to send good wishes to those whose names are written upon them. The tails that hang down represent angels’ (or spirits’) wings, and when you walk beneath them, the brushing of the wings upon your head is said to bring good luck.
After our lanterns were complete, our local guides took us to a temple in the nearby town of Lampoon, where locals were already beginning to hang their lanterns in rows outside. So that we could keep the ones we made (with traditional paper that would melt in the rain), we made a donation to the temple to purchase lanterns we could hang, to send good wishes to our loved ones, surrounded by a glowing rainbow of lights. (You really have to check out these pictures.) We were overwhelmed by the beauty of this tradition that leads up to the festival in November, and we felt so lucky to be welcomed to participate in this local custom that many tourists never know much about.
Onward Travel Blog 