One of my favorite Thai celebrations is the Tattoo Festival annually held on the first Saturday of March at the famed Wat Bang Phra temple in Nakhon Chai Si, about 50 kilometers west of Bangkok. I found myself initially running around in circles trying to photograph the festival known locally as Wai Kru because it's difficult to fathom without doing some research ahead of time.
It took about three years before I understood that there was an order to the seeming madness and that patience would reward me with stronger images. Wat Bang Phra is famous for its intricate tattoos that monks delicately etch on the bodies of the temple's followers with thin bamboo needles. The devotees who come for tattoos believe that the inkings are magical and can protect them from a variety of hazards, including bullets, knives and even jealous husbands. Numerous devotees sport detailed designs over their entire upper bodies and after adding new images, oftentimes take on the spirit of an animal, usually a tiger.
Many of the tattooed disciples sit in the temple courtyard on the day of the festival and become spiritually entranced. Some even try to madly rush a stage that displays a statue of Buddhist monk Luang Por Boon, their deceased head master. But waiting to stop the frenzied dash is an army of volunteers and soldiers. Also waiting is a battalion of photographers looking for shots of the insanity. The strange spectacle at times resembles an all-out street fight.
It took about three years before I understood that there was an order to the seeming madness and that patience would reward me with stronger images. Wat Bang Phra is famous for its intricate tattoos that monks delicately etch on the bodies of the temple's followers with thin bamboo needles. The devotees who come for tattoos believe that the inkings are magical and can protect them from a variety of hazards, including bullets, knives and even jealous husbands. Numerous devotees sport detailed designs over their entire upper bodies and after adding new images, oftentimes take on the spirit of an animal, usually a tiger.
Many of the tattooed disciples sit in the temple courtyard on the day of the festival and become spiritually entranced. Some even try to madly rush a stage that displays a statue of Buddhist monk Luang Por Boon, their deceased head master. But waiting to stop the frenzied dash is an army of volunteers and soldiers. Also waiting is a battalion of photographers looking for shots of the insanity. The strange spectacle at times resembles an all-out street fight.
A devotee to the Wat Bang Pra goes into a trance during the tatoo festival near Bangkok.
Volunteers retrain an entranced devotee at the Wat Bang Par Tattoo festival near Bangkok.
Grasping at the air an entranced devotee to Wat Bang Pra screams as volunteers retrain him.
Volunteers restrain several devotees in trances at the Wat Bang Par tattoo festival near Bangkok.
A tattoo master inks a devotee as others look on.
A devotee enters a trance like state at the Wat Bang Pra tattoo festival near Bangkok.
An extensive collection of images from the Tattoo Festival and other exotic festivals in Thailand and Southeast Asia can be seen in my book
"Rituals" at https://www.blurb.com/b/5685020
"Rituals" at https://www.blurb.com/b/5685020
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