Novice Ordainment 2003

It is a Thai tradition that young men at the age of twenty spend a period of time in the monkhood in order to forward the merits to their parents who have given them birth and brought them up. Boys under the age of twenty as well as older men who are not ready to obey the 227 precepts required for monkhood can also be ordained as novices, who need to obey only 10 precepts. In recent years, it is popular in Thailand for wats (monasteries) to arrange summer ordainment programs for men and boys. These new monks and novices would enter the Buddist rigorous and austere way of life. They need to learn how to dress themselves properly in saffron robes and how to collect alms from devotees in the communities surrounding the temple. Most importantly, they study the theory of Buddhism and practice Buddhist meditation. The monkhood or novicehood summer programs often last between 15 and 30 days. After this period the monks and novices are disrobed, hopefully to become better persons. Typically such a program involves a lot of effort from both the community and the monastery. This is an opportunity for the monastery to cultivate possible candidates for future monks as well as future patrons while the ordainees are prepared to be more matured members of the community.
On 2 May 2003, 81 men and boys (as well as about 30 additional ordainees) were ordained as monks and novices at Wat Pathumwanaram in the middle of Bangkok in honor of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana's 80th birthday. Prior to the event, the Princess had granted an audience to the Abbot of Wat Pathumwanaram and representatives of the ordainees at her residence.
Shown below are 77 out of over 350 photos I took during the two-week Summer Ordainment Program, where my eldest son, Lertchon, was ordained as a novice. The photos were taken with a SONY Cyber Shot DSC-P2 digital camera. Post-processing in Photoshop 7 was needed to enhance a few images that had been shot under ambient lighting.
Over a hundred ordainees registered to participate in the program.  Registration took place one day before the ordination day.
The hair and eyebrows were shaved off to symbolize the removal of worldly pleasure and identity.  Parents took the first snips to symbolically start the process.
The cut hair fell onto a lotus leaf shown in the foreground to be floated away in a body of water such as a river.
Monks helped shave the rest of the head as well as the eyebrows.  At this stage, the ordainess were called “Nagas” after the giant serpent who mythically transformed
into a young man in order to be ordained by Lord Buddha. When his secret was later revealed and he was forced to disrobe, he asked that from then on, all ordainees be called
“Nagas” in his honor before becoming monks (and novices in this case).
The shaved Nagas had the final rehearsal at night for the ceremony on the following day. The overall preparation process took about 5 hours.
On the ordination day, the Nagas were dressed in white gowns. Those worn by the men were quilted at the rim with golden decoration to symbolize worldly values.
Dr. Tienchai Kiranandana, former president of Chulalongkorn University, reported to Phra Thep Panya Munee, Chairman of the Ceremony and Abbot of Wat Patoomwanaram.
After the opening ceremony came an hour-long sermon on the merit of ordainment given by a well-known preacher, Pra Pipit Dharma Patee of Wat Prayoorawongsavart.
After the sermon, the Wat Patoomwanaram School Band led the march of the Nagas and their relatives around the Ubosot, the Ordination Hall.
The procession was observed from a distance by prominent members of the Thai elite society such as Thanpuying Viriya Chavakul and Thanpuying Sumalee Jatikavanich.
The three rounds of march symbolizes the respect for Lord Buddha, Dharma (his teaching), and Sanka (the  monkhood).
Nagas made the final turn around the Ubosot, the central building of a Buddhist temple where the principal image of Buddha was housed.
Relatives and guests comfortably observed the ceremony in a couple of canvas tents and then had a simple but delicious buffet meal that had freshly been prepared.
The Nagas then received the three pieces of saffron robe sponsored by HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana as well as relatives, friends, and other devotees.
The Nagas, still in white robes, formed a circle around the Ubosot.
After waiting around for some time, the Nagas were finally allowed inside the Ubosot.
The Nagas were ordained by the Abbot inside the Ubosot in front of the principal image of Buddha.
New monks and novices took off their white robes and put on the saffron robes with the help of seasoned monks.
The new monks and novices took vows to obey the 227 and 10 precepts, respectively. Each of them then received the rest of the eight utensils he was allowed to own.
The most important utensil was perhaps the alms bowl, which a monk or novice needed in order to collect alms every morning.
The overall ordainment process performed on the ordainination day took about 7 hours for novices and about 16 hours for monks.
During the first few days, most new monks and novices were excited to learn the new way of life.
Nevertheless, a few novices were unaccustomed to the austere lifestyle and got very homesick.
With the help of monk teachers, fellow novices and family members who were allowed at visiting hours,
they gradually got used to the holy lifestyle and focused their attention at the study and meditation.
New monks and novices learned to dress properly with the three pieces of saffron cloth. They learned to keep themselves and their clothes physically clean.
Novices learned Buddhism as well as the theory and practice of Buddhist meditation.
A few brave individuals took the challenge of practicing meditation in the graveyard of Wat Don Cemetary, which was famous for aggressive haunting of spirits.
New monks and novices needed to learn the proper way of collecting alms, holding their alms bowls with the help of suspenders inside the robes.
They tried not to drop the metal lids while walking barefoot in a single file along the roads within a couple of kilometers around the temple to collect alms.
The alms typically consisted of ready-to-eat and preserved food, as well as cash donations. Back at the temple, they must pool and share the food among themselves
and with old or sick monks and novices who could not walk, as well as with devotees who worked for the monastery.
The cash was saved for donating to the monastery and the monastery-supported school, the building of which was used as their temporary lodging and classroom.
After a few days of training and self-adjustment, all monks and novices were quite comfortable with the holy lifestyle.
Novices often shared new things they learned with relatives, in this case his younger brother, mother, and grandmother.
After a week in the city, new monks and novices moved to practice meditation more seriously in the quiet countryside of Nakhon Rachasrima, abt 200 km from Bangkok.
Donations of food and supplies were collected prior to leaving the city.
The property was accessible by a dirt road about 10 kilometers off the main highway.
The land was a mango plantation in the valley between small hills owned by a Buddhist devotee who offered the land for use as a meditation training ground.
The landowner had built a Sala (general-purpose building composed of a big roof over pillars without solid walls) for sermons and
mass-meditation.
The new monks and novices had to observe strict rules at the camp, like getting up very early in the morning for a chanting session before going out to collect alms
At the camp, they ate only one meal a day instead of twice a day like in Bangkok.
The new monks and novices stayed in individual tents placed about 5 to 10 meters apart. The tents were convenient for solitary meditation.
There was neither tap water nor electricity. At night the place was lit only by moonlight and starlight. The nearest trench-style toilet was about 50 meters downhill.
Stream water was used for bathing and washing. The tents were supposed to be water resistant but severe rain could seep through the zippers.
A couple of times when it rained so hard (due to a tropical storm) that no one could access the tents, the monks and novices were allowed to sleep in the Sala.
Family members and friends were allowed during visiting hours in order to provide “moral support.”
After about a week of tough life in the wild, all survived safely and returned to Bangkok.
The 15th of May 2003 was Visakha Puja day (alternately spelled Visaka Bucha Day), the day Lord Buddha was born, enlightened, and eternally passed away.
Visakha Puja is globally recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Day. That day also happended to be the day before the disrobing day.
All new monks and novices participating in the Summer Program assembled in the auditorium to receive the Certificates of Attendance
and Successful Completion, signed by the Abbot of the Monastery.
In the evening, thousands of devotees came to the temple in continuous stream to walk around the Ubosot three times holding in their hands lilly flowers, lighted candles and burning incense sticks in order to pay homage to Lord Buddha.
Meanwhile, monks and novices executed the same 3-round ritual on the elevated passageway around the Ubosot.
At about 9 pm, the Abbot started the first session of the all-night sermon about the life and accomplishments of Lord Buddha.
On the final day, relatives and friends showed up early at the temple.
​They waited while the monks and novices were having breakfast.
When monks and novices finished their breakfast, relatives and friends were traditionally served with the excess, unconsumed, food.
The disrobing ceremony was performed in the Ubosot in front of the principal image of Buddha.
The monks and novices ceremonially asked the Abbot (who two weeks earlier ordained them) to disrobe them. He complied to their wishes.
Newly disrobed individuals were dressed in white clothes and took the vows to obey the Five Precepts designed by Lord Buddha for ordinary "household" people.
After receiving dashes of holy water from the Abbot, the newly disrobed ones moved to the Auditorium for a ceremonial return of controls from the monastery to the families.
This symbolized a new birth in the human form. Then the relatives traditionally presented the newly-born ones with birthday presents such as gold necklaces and cash.
They then separated and went on with their lives, with more wisdom, maturity, and durability.  The disrobing ceremony took about 2 hours.
The "graduated novices" were expected to return for monkhood ordainment when they reach their proper ages some time in the future.
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