Royal Ploughing Ceremony

 

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony was this morning, and I always try to watch it on TV.  It takes place around this time every year, to acknowledge the beginning of the rice-planting season, just before the Rainy Season begins.  It is an ancient ceremony introduced from India, its first mention being in the Ramayana.  Brahmins – Indian Hindu priests, these being historically attached to the Thai royal court – officiate at the ploughing field. 

After the Thai king has finished the Buddhist part of the ceremony at the Grand Palace, he arrives at the ploughing field.  Then two beautiful white oxen, huge with golden embellishments on their horns, are harnessed to an ornate wooden plough with a single blade.  Brahmins led the plough procession, followed by the oxen.  A chief Brahmin has his hand on the plough, and following are young ladies with baskets of rice seeds and flowers.  The Brahmin tosses seeds into the ploughed furrows as they go round and round. 

At the end of the ploughing, the oxen are fed.  Their given choices are:  rice, corn, green beans, grass, water, or rice whiskey.  Their choices are interpreted by Brahmin astrologers (who also have chosen the auspicious date for this ceremony) for predictions of the future harvest. 

Needless to say, my confidence in astrologers is zero.  But it is a beautiful ceremony to watch. 

-Zenwind. 

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