Dear family and friends,
It is true that one certainly needn't go half way around the world to discover fascinating annual events. Carol and I have never been to Hawk Ridge above Duluth to watch the migration of raptors every fall, nor to the banks of the Platte River in Nebraska to watch the sand hill cranes in the spring, nor even to the annual Vikings - Packers football game at the Metrodome. But as of this past week end we have witnessed the Loy Krathong festival on the Ping River in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I know the phrase "orderly chaos" sounds like an oxymoron. "Polite chaos" is no better. But I don't know how else to describe the crowded streets along the Ping River Monday night as the full moon floated calmly and contentedly over milling crowds and pyro-technic abandon down below. I caught myself laughing at the incredible difference from the 60th anniversary celebration of the Peoples' Republic of China that we watched on TV and along one of the main roads near our hotel in Beijing just one month ago. Everything in Beijing was choreographed with the precision of a fine watch. Hundreds of thousands of people. All carefully choreographed, rehearsed, and rehearsed again for precise parades and performances of enormous scale and exquisite timing, which only select ticket holders were permitted to see live on Tiananmen Square.
Nothing was choreographed in Chiang Mai on Monday night. Not the traffic, not the fireworks, not the parade, not the crowds, nothing. But it worked. It was fun, friendly, and brimming with good will and good spirits. Polite chaos. Those of us accustomed to strict rules of safety regarding firecrackers and fireworks were at first more than a little disconcerted. Here's the scene:
Loy Krathong is an old festival with an uncertain origin, probably borrowed centuries ago from the Indian Diwali Festival -- a festival celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, of good and love over evil. In that way, I guess, it shares something of the same theme as this year's St. Olaf Christmas Festival: "Light of All Creation, Scatter the Darkness." Of course like holidays in every country, the old "holy-day" meanings sometimes get forgotten or drowned in frivolity, and festivity itself becomes the point. That is just as true of Loy Krathong here as it is at any Easter egg hunt in America. Anyway, here in Chiang Mai everyone, it seems, makes or buys a small floating candle and incense raft ( a krathong) out of a circle section of a banana tree trunk, covered with nicely folded strips of banana leaves pinned on to imitate the shape of a lotus flower. Then marigold flower heads and other small flowers are added, a small votive candle is placed in the center, and a few sticks of incense are added. Thus there is the reminder, at least, that each krathong is more than a toy; it is a floating prayer. We each made our own during Thai Society class on Monday afternoon. Crowds of people gather along the concrete walled river side after dark, and set their krathongs afloat. But those floating lights are small.
While candles are being set afloat on the river, thousands of fires are being sent aloft into the night sky. Yes, thousands. It is crazy but very beautiful. Imagine a barrel or 55 gallon drum made out of kite paper with the open bottom held by a wire ring and two tie wires crossing in the middle. On those crossing wires is a ring of wax, quite a lot like the ring of wax plumbers use to seal down a toilet stool. The wax is set on fire. Soon, it heats the air inside the barrel/kite/lantern, the people let go, and off it sails into the dark sky. Sometimes it sails right into the overhead power lines, sometimes into the nearby trees, sometime just over the heads of tall people, and sometimes a few get turned sideways, catch on fire and fall to the ground. Oh yes, and sometimes people tie a string of firecrackers or sparklers to to bottom and they pop and crackle their way up into the night.
Now add on all the firecrackers and fireworks being set off here and there by anyone who has them. Little tubes that shoot out firecrackers, big 4th of July fireworks, bottle rockets, and numerous firecrackers simply thrown on the street or sidewalk in the midst of the milling crowds. If that isn't enough chaos for you, add a parade all along the waterfront street. A cacophony of rhythms and tunes from passing floats, smiling young women in fancy dresses, bare chested men in traditional costumes, and the crowd acting as if the parade were simply part of the crowd itself, freely crossing the street between floats, I even saw someone in the crowd take a cell phone out to a man in the parade who then talked on the phone as his contigent of marchers ambled down the street. When he was done, he gave the phone back to its owner, All along this same waterfront street little carts and kiosks are selling ice cream, souvenirs, and krathongs. One of our students said she saw swimmers in the river retrieve floating krathongs. Her host parents explained that he would bring them to shore where a friend would re-sell them to others. Meanwhile, that fabulous full moon smiled and glided along calmly above the fray. And the Thai people seemed to take their attitude from the moon rather than from the flaming lanterns or exploding fireworks. It was polite chaos. Carol and I went home uninjured and smiling.
Bruce and Carol
It is true that one certainly needn't go half way around the world to discover fascinating annual events. Carol and I have never been to Hawk Ridge above Duluth to watch the migration of raptors every fall, nor to the banks of the Platte River in Nebraska to watch the sand hill cranes in the spring, nor even to the annual Vikings - Packers football game at the Metrodome. But as of this past week end we have witnessed the Loy Krathong festival on the Ping River in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I know the phrase "orderly chaos" sounds like an oxymoron. "Polite chaos" is no better. But I don't know how else to describe the crowded streets along the Ping River Monday night as the full moon floated calmly and contentedly over milling crowds and pyro-technic abandon down below. I caught myself laughing at the incredible difference from the 60th anniversary celebration of the Peoples' Republic of China that we watched on TV and along one of the main roads near our hotel in Beijing just one month ago. Everything in Beijing was choreographed with the precision of a fine watch. Hundreds of thousands of people. All carefully choreographed, rehearsed, and rehearsed again for precise parades and performances of enormous scale and exquisite timing, which only select ticket holders were permitted to see live on Tiananmen Square.
Nothing was choreographed in Chiang Mai on Monday night. Not the traffic, not the fireworks, not the parade, not the crowds, nothing. But it worked. It was fun, friendly, and brimming with good will and good spirits. Polite chaos. Those of us accustomed to strict rules of safety regarding firecrackers and fireworks were at first more than a little disconcerted. Here's the scene:
Loy Krathong is an old festival with an uncertain origin, probably borrowed centuries ago from the Indian Diwali Festival -- a festival celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, of good and love over evil. In that way, I guess, it shares something of the same theme as this year's St. Olaf Christmas Festival: "Light of All Creation, Scatter the Darkness." Of course like holidays in every country, the old "holy-day" meanings sometimes get forgotten or drowned in frivolity, and festivity itself becomes the point. That is just as true of Loy Krathong here as it is at any Easter egg hunt in America. Anyway, here in Chiang Mai everyone, it seems, makes or buys a small floating candle and incense raft ( a krathong) out of a circle section of a banana tree trunk, covered with nicely folded strips of banana leaves pinned on to imitate the shape of a lotus flower. Then marigold flower heads and other small flowers are added, a small votive candle is placed in the center, and a few sticks of incense are added. Thus there is the reminder, at least, that each krathong is more than a toy; it is a floating prayer. We each made our own during Thai Society class on Monday afternoon. Crowds of people gather along the concrete walled river side after dark, and set their krathongs afloat. But those floating lights are small.
While candles are being set afloat on the river, thousands of fires are being sent aloft into the night sky. Yes, thousands. It is crazy but very beautiful. Imagine a barrel or 55 gallon drum made out of kite paper with the open bottom held by a wire ring and two tie wires crossing in the middle. On those crossing wires is a ring of wax, quite a lot like the ring of wax plumbers use to seal down a toilet stool. The wax is set on fire. Soon, it heats the air inside the barrel/kite/lantern, the people let go, and off it sails into the dark sky. Sometimes it sails right into the overhead power lines, sometimes into the nearby trees, sometime just over the heads of tall people, and sometimes a few get turned sideways, catch on fire and fall to the ground. Oh yes, and sometimes people tie a string of firecrackers or sparklers to to bottom and they pop and crackle their way up into the night.
Now add on all the firecrackers and fireworks being set off here and there by anyone who has them. Little tubes that shoot out firecrackers, big 4th of July fireworks, bottle rockets, and numerous firecrackers simply thrown on the street or sidewalk in the midst of the milling crowds. If that isn't enough chaos for you, add a parade all along the waterfront street. A cacophony of rhythms and tunes from passing floats, smiling young women in fancy dresses, bare chested men in traditional costumes, and the crowd acting as if the parade were simply part of the crowd itself, freely crossing the street between floats, I even saw someone in the crowd take a cell phone out to a man in the parade who then talked on the phone as his contigent of marchers ambled down the street. When he was done, he gave the phone back to its owner, All along this same waterfront street little carts and kiosks are selling ice cream, souvenirs, and krathongs. One of our students said she saw swimmers in the river retrieve floating krathongs. Her host parents explained that he would bring them to shore where a friend would re-sell them to others. Meanwhile, that fabulous full moon smiled and glided along calmly above the fray. And the Thai people seemed to take their attitude from the moon rather than from the flaming lanterns or exploding fireworks. It was polite chaos. Carol and I went home uninjured and smiling.
Bruce and Carol