David Clay Photography
The Wat and the community
Wat Muang Khon, Tambon Pa Phai, Amphoe San Sai, Chang Wat Chiang Mai 50210, Thailand
The orange, three-tiered tiled roofline of the community Wat's vihara rises above the flat terrain of the pale stubble of rice stalks, In a nod to modernity, the local farmer swings a gasoline powered weedwacker using a nylon line to cut back dead rice stalks in place of a gleaming, lethally sharpened metal scythe.
Many Wats in rural areas take their name from the district area where they are located. Khon Muang means: 'people of the cultivated land' or 'people of our community'.'
San Sai is an agricultural town just outside of Chiangmai in Northern Thailand. The Wat Muang Khon is surrounded by farms and rice paddy.
For much of the year the temple is shuttered and inactive. The hard work of daily life continues cultivating rice in the rainfed lowlands of the north. The monsoons beat out the measures of the cycle of time. The age-old practice of swidden (slash and burn) farming follows that beat.
We have the great triad of the work, the land and the temple. The intimate reciprocity of life in rural communities. The community of monks is sustained and maintained by the support of the surrounding farmers and their families. The farmers need the monks for a sense of deep purpose and as a protective intermediary with the forces of a unseen world of potent malevolent spirits. The land gives the food that sustains all.
Many Buddhist festivals are closely tied the the cycles of rice cultivation. The association of cultivating rice with Buddhism is an intimate one. The monks offer blessings for the success of the harvest, and benefit directly because the first yields of the harvest go to the monastery.
The Wat and the community
Wat Muang Khon, Tambon Pa Phai, Amphoe San Sai, Chang Wat Chiang Mai 50210, Thailand
The orange, three-tiered tiled roofline of the community Wat's vihara rises above the flat terrain of the pale stubble of rice stalks, In a nod to modernity, the local farmer swings a gasoline powered weedwacker using a nylon line to cut back dead rice stalks in place of a gleaming, lethally sharpened metal scythe.
Many Wats in rural areas take their name from the district area where they are located. Khon Muang means: 'people of the cultivated land' or 'people of our community'.'
San Sai is an agricultural town just outside of Chiangmai in Northern Thailand. The Wat Muang Khon is surrounded by farms and rice paddy.
For much of the year the temple is shuttered and inactive. The hard work of daily life continues cultivating rice in the rainfed lowlands of the north. The monsoons beat out the measures of the cycle of time. The age-old practice of swidden (slash and burn) farming follows that beat.
We have the great triad of the work, the land and the temple. The intimate reciprocity of life in rural communities. The community of monks is sustained and maintained by the support of the surrounding farmers and their families. The farmers need the monks for a sense of deep purpose and as a protective intermediary with the forces of a unseen world of potent malevolent spirits. The land gives the food that sustains all.
Many Buddhist festivals are closely tied the the cycles of rice cultivation. The association of cultivating rice with Buddhism is an intimate one. The monks offer blessings for the success of the harvest, and benefit directly because the first yields of the harvest go to the monastery.