Makha Bucha Day

The Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple, located on the northern outskirts of Bangkok, immediately strikes for its large golden dome that represents a rising sun but looks more like a modern flying saucer. The Makha Bucha is one of the most important Buddhist festivals and celebrates the event in which the Buddha, when enlightened, begins to preach and pronounce his laws. Here these celebrations are of great charm and spectacularly scenic. The temple represents the modern face of Thai Buddhism, it is followed by millions of faithful but also very contested because of the large donations it receives. It consists of 150 modern buildings, can accommodate 10,000 monks and the open-air area below can collect 600,000 faithful strictly dressed in white to contribute to the scenography and staging of religious services. During the celebrations the monks sit neatly with a glass boule next to them with a lit candle, the maniacal order of the ranks, the strictly marked places for the faithful make up a spectacular choreography more like a military parade than a religious feast. The Dhammakaya sect perfectly embodies today's society, modern marketing methods are used for promotion and the faithful pray for career success and for the prosperity of their family.