APPENDIX TO CHAPTER 16
`BUNBANGFAI' FESTIVAL AT NAPU VILLAGE (1966)
The village of Napu, situated on the banks of the swamp Byng Chuan,
is the centre of the cult associated with the guardian of the swamp,
Tapu Byng or Chao Phau Tong Khyang. It is therefore worthwhile to
describe the Bunbangfai staged there; the documentation will provide
a comparison with and a confirmation of the account given of the festival
staged at Baan Phraan Muan.
In one respect Napu village is more orthodox than Phraan Muan. Its
shrine to the village guardian, Tapubaan, is situated in the wat compound
right next to the bood. This is a spatial expression of the complementarity
between Buddhism and the cult of guardian spirits. Furthermore, Napu,
as the cult centre, has the chief medium (tiam) of the swamp guardian,
three subsidiary female mediums, and an intermediary (cham) who is the
assistant of the chief medium. All these religious personnel participate in
Bunbangfai.
Bunbangfai is, it was claimed, always staged in the middle of the 6th
lunar month (full moon of May). The ceremony is compulsory and held
every year. But its scale varies as in Baan Phraan Muan. As the tiam of
Napu put it: `In a good year when there has been a good harvest, a big
ceremony is held; in a lean year only a small ceremony.'
The sequence of the festivities celebrated in 1966 is as follows: on
the 14th day of the 6th lunar month, which is called mue hoam (time
for bringing things together), villagers got ready the articles necessary for
ordination of monks. In the afternoon the sukhwan nag (ceremony for
recalling the spirit essence of the postulants) was held in the wat, conducted
by the mau khwan (lay officiant). In the evening, after the monks had
chanted suad mongkhon (chant of blessing), began the fair. Entertainment
consisted of mau lam (folk opera) and ramwong (dancing).
On the afternoon of the following day (15th) ordination took place.
It is important to note that the villagers of Napu said categorically:
`Bunbangfai follows ordination', thereby asserting their sequential relationship.
In some years the ceremony for elevating and honouring monks to
the status of Somdet is held, but in 1966 it was not.
After the conclusion of ordination, on the same afternoon, the procession
with rockets (hae bangfai) took place. Before the procession started, the
tiam (medium) took to the shrine of the village guardian (Tapubaan)
candles, flowers and his costume, and made offering (tawai) and paid his
respects (karava) to Tapubaan. Then he dressed himself in the costume
of the tiam, which consisted of: panung dam (black waist cloth or skirt),
sya daeng (red blouse or shirt), pha kian hua (head cloth), pha kard eo
(waist band) and phachedna (handkerchief). The last three items were
also red. The hallmark of a tiam's costume is its red colour, especially
the blouse and head cloth. The subsidiary female tiam also wear these
same colours. The cham (intermediary) wears ordinary clothes.
The `procession with rockets' was formed in the following order: it was
led by the male medium; behind him came the three female mediums and
the intermediary. All of them danced. The musicians—drummers and
bamboo flutists—came next, followed by the other `dancers', most of
whom were persons who had been cured of illness by the medium. These
latter are referred to as
luug tiam (`children of the medium') and it is
required that they take part in the procession and dance. The palanquin
bearing the rockets (fifteen in number) was carried behind the dancers;
the carriers consisted primarily of male village elders. The rear of the
procession was brought up by male and female village elders (
phuu thaw
and
maethaw), and youth of both sexes (
phuubaw and
phuusaw).
The procession went three times around the bood, and then proceeded
to the shrine of Tapubaan. The medium climbed up the ladder to the
shrine, dedicated the rockets and made a prayer, saying, `If the village
is good let the rocket go up high, if it is not, let the rocket explode'. Then
the bang siang (rocket of wishing and foretelling) was ignited and it was
launched successfully.[10]
The procession, carrying the remaining rockets,
then returned to the village and stored them in village homes.
The procession was formed again on the third morning (16th) and the
rockets were carried to the wat. There the monks were feasted, after
which the rockets were carried out of the wat to an open space located
toward the east (an auspicious direction). They were then fired, and there
was much competitive play and ritual licence of the type described earlier
for Baan Phraan Muan.
