Faith and Rituals for Pra Mor, Leng Joo Kiang Shrine, Pattani Province

Abstract

Abstract

This article aims to study faith and rituals for Pra Mor, Leng Joo Kiang Shrine, Pattani Province

from the narratives concerning birth of Pra Mor, installation of Pra Mor in Leng Joo Kiang Shrine, belief in Pra Mor’ s grace and worshipping, praying and swearing ceremonies at the shrine. The study exploits field research consisting of specific interviews, participation in the religious rituals and observation. The approach applied in this study is based on folklore perspectives. Area of population focuses on groups of people who have strong faith and constantly perform religious rituals for Pra Mor in Pattani Province. Scope of this study is to analyze faith and rituals for Pra Mor and the result of this study will be presented through the analytical description.

From the study, it is found that faith and rituals for Pra Mor reflect 3 major roles from folklore perspectives, including:

1. 1. The presence of Pra Mor as the principle Chinese god image in the shrine signifies that Pra Mor is the heart of people’s faith in Pattani Province. It is the faith from Buddhist Thais, Chinese-Thais and foreign Chinese.
2. 2. The tale about birth of Pra Mor explains a characteristic of Pra Mor as a Chinese god and a strict precept-keeper. This characteristic of Pra Mor becomes a spiritual shelter for people in the local community. People, then, worship, pray and even make an oath towards Pra Mor in order to seek for his supernatural power and his grace to cure their illnesses.

3. Existence of faith and rituals for Pra Mor reflects roles and norms of the community around the shrine. Although people in this area come from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, they can live peacefully because they believe that they all are Pra Mor’s grandkids.