Vimok Gets Crowned

When we made the journey to Thailand and finally arrived to our new “home,” the temple was a bustle of activity. The Kathina festival was going to happen the next day. From what I understand Kathina celebrates the end of the rainy season and is also a day to give the monks offerings of new cloths. On top of that, the main temple at Vimok (which is still under construction) was going to get a set of “crowns.” When we arrived Gait (the temple retreat organizer) was preoccupied with helping out with the preparations and wasn’t there, and Julia (the yoga teacher) seemed unprepared to handle our arrival without Gait around. So, we weren’t really given an orientation or tour but were able to eventually get caught up and take our own time to settle in. The next day it was basically like a fair grounds at the temple with a bustle of activities, food, dances, offerings and the event of the crowning.

For the most part I think everyone had a good time, but I did feel bad for the guys sitting on top of the temple. They seemed to be there for quite awhile waiting for the anticipated event.

Finally it happened!

It was really special to be a part of this celebration considering these crowns (and I’m pretty sure this isn’t the actual technical term for these ornaments 😝) will most likely be on this temple for about 100 years. So though the Kathina festival happens every year, this event most likely happens once in a lifetime!

We were supposed to go to a yoga class after this, but then Gait asked us if we wanted to contribute our time and services instead. Heck yeah!! So instead of practicing yoga asanas, we ended up practicing karma yoga. I’m assuming this part happens every year. As the festival began to wind down it was time to hand out donations to the poor. Everyone was given a bag, and the bag was eventually filled up with various cooking items such as oil, eggs, milk, sugar, etc. I’ll also make the assumption that these items were all donated by the temple and/or through contributions from devotees as we did have a chance to meet and work alongside the people who contributed the bags (their business is making these bags). Many of the people receiving these donations, I was told, are refugees from Myanmar as this area is quite close to the border. It was a lot of work, it was hectic at times, but what an uplifting experience and a wonderful opportunity to give back.  That was our first full day at the retreat and at the temple. I didn’t know it at the time how much more powerful and magical things were about to get!!