Having lived in Thailand a year and a half, we learned one thing, which is usually not even suspected of celebrating tourists - although it would seem, originally for them, tourists, this thing and is intended. So, so far the numerous guests of the smiles of smiles are not like on the beaches or travel around the pearl factories and serpentine farms, the real life is at all next to them. Because Thailand under the clue turns out to be the country with the largest, it seems, the number of festivals. Literally every week in different parts of the country (in our case - islands) there are festive processions, colorful parades or simply concerts of amateur time. But since this extravaluation occurs, as a rule, in the capital of the island - Phuket-Town, the place where tourists are rarely tapped, and they do not recognize about the endless series of festivals. But we have already learned how to track the most interesting events and visit them in definitely - as it turned out, Stefan all these holiday marchs are very interesting. About the couple of the most advanced I want to tell.
Symbol of the festival of hungry perfume - red turtle, sweet and tasty.
One of the first such events, which will probably remember our son, - the festival of the hungry perfume. The origins of this holiday should be sought in China, where the local residents waited for guests from the "Lower World" once a year - there, as the residents of the Middle Kingdom believe, the spirits of the dead live.
Since the Chinese diasporas today were settled around the world, the hungry fect festival is celebrated now everywhere. And Phuket, where there was a lot of descendants of Chinese immigrants, not an exception.
The scene of the festival is usually chosen by Phuket Town. When we arrived at the discovery, the first thing was noted: it seems that there are no spirits hungry on this holiday, but numerous guests are quite earthly and real. After all, almost the entire center of Phuket Town turned out to be made numerous edible shops. And literally everyone we saw something chewing or drank.
True believers do not bother the huge number of people around.
However, the spirits also sang something. To the Chinese temple of Por Tor Kong Shrine - one of the most beautiful on the island - the local people on the day of discovery brought numerous sentences. Including traditional pies in the shape of a red turtle. It is this cake that is a symbol of the festival. It is believed that it is designed primarily for perfume. However, sometimes people also be taped. In addition, this cake is pretty tasty, albeit a few peculiar. Personally, he recalled (unexpectedly) marzipan products, so popular in Hungary.
Why is the red turtle? As she lives for a very long time, the Chinese consider it to the personification of eternity. Once alive turtles were sacrificed to the spirits, but over time they were replaced by a cake. Well, and the red traditionally is considered to have the Chinese with the color of happiness.
Festivals in Phuket-Town collect a huge number of guests, although the mass tourist does not even realize that there is a very colorful life of such a colorful life.
Spirits these days are trying not only to feed, but also to drag. And for this, colorful ideas are suitable for them. And also - parallel - the local people take care of those spirits that remained in the other world. In order for them, too, something to eat, go somewhere and fun to have fun, "money of hell" are actively burned these days. These papers, they believe the descendants of Chinese immigrants, in the afterlime world the spirits will be able to buy themselves that the soul wishes (sorry for tautology). But just in case, in parallel with money, electrical appliances are also burned (for example, televisions and video recorders) and even the entire machine. These days, the fire service squads are duty everywhere, so that there are no earthly citizens in the fire "hellish money". From the side of the spectacle looks frighteningly, but impressive.
... I did not have time to guens the festival of hungry perfumes, as all the same descendants of the Chinese have already danced at the festival of street culture - the truth, quite at the other end of the island. We urgently going on the road ...
Continued ...
Read the previous history of Olga here, and where it all starts - here.