Faith, tradition and folkway of Ban Bat : From pleading “Por Pu” to Vassa preaching.

3. Faith, tradition and folkway of Ban Bat : From pleading “Por Pu” to Vassa preaching.

3.1 Songkran - Por Pu: faith and beliefs about flame in Ban Bat

“Por Pu” the holy spiritual anchor in Ban Bat for a long time. As we said, He is an elderly big man, wore all white, kept his hair in a joora and came into the one of  villager's dreams. After that, the villagers sculpt the portrait of him following their dream with clay and desire as spiritual anchor along with an ancient stove as tools and equipment for making Bat, like the life and soul of the people in the Ban Bat.

Every Thai Songkran festival (around April), we usually have The worship of  Por Pu ceremony on Thursday of April. Ban Bat people stopped working like a holiday,  preparing for the ceremony in the early morning to pay respects to Por Pu with various sweet and savory dishes. Not enough, we have a “Chatri” stage from Rueng Non choir of Wat Cae Nang Loeng community for dance worship, make a vow and scatter offerings around the Por Pu and Bat stove’s shrine and every house in Ban Bat.

Once there was a conflagration but the Ban Bat was affected by only fire steam. We believe the reason why we survived safely was because Por Po protected us by blowing the fire out to another place.

3.2 Preaching in Ban Bat: Start from Somdej To to tradition in Vassa

The culture of preaching in the Ban Bat has been passed down for a long time. As we said it, Somdej Phra Buddhacarya (To Phrommarangsi) from Wat Rakhang Khositaram preached in the Wat Saket - Ban Bat area, because Ban Bat is located near the Wat Saket’s graveyard, which is ideal for Vipassana Kammaṭṭhāna (Insight Meditation), and also serves to encourage morale among the nearby communities, who must confront the disgusting remains of corpses, the smell of cremation, and the flocks of vultures swarming over the Wat Saket cemetery and the Ban Bat community. This is an unsightly sight. 

Another assumption from Abbot monk’s preaching. It is considered with monks and Lao peoples who live in the eastern part of Phra Nakhon, starting from Bang Khun Phrom to Wat Chakkrawat (Wat Sam Pluem)  area. In the same time, Abbot also ordained the novice "Krud (holy goods)" at Wat Sampluem, the father of Somdej Phra Ariyawongsakattayan (Yu), the former prominent abbot of Wat Saket.

This has led to the tradition of the monks residing at Wat Saket giving sermons on every Buddhist holy day, the 15th day of the waxing moon, the 15th day of the waning moon, and the 8th day of the waxing moon, the 8th day of the waning moon during the Buddhist holy days. Throughout the first until the last day of the Vassa period, monks will come to preach in the community at the Sala Klang Ban.

On the first and last day of the Vassa period. We will prepare the sweet and savory dish to make a merit and listen to the preach. On another day during the Vassa period, monks will come to Ban Bat to preach for the Buddhist every evening; for we can pray and make good morals. That can be said that the Ban Bat  has continuously maintained this tradition.