The Creativity of Ritual to Worship the Spirit in Hopea Odorata Boat “Sayt-tee Rua Tong” at Pu Noi Temple, Ban Mi District, Lop Buri Province

Abstract

This article aims to describe the creation of a ritual to worship the spirit in a boat made of HopeaOdorata or Ta-Kian Tong (in Thai) wood at Pu Noi Temple, Ban Mi district, Lop Buri province. This ritual is called “Sayt-tee Rua Tong” or Golden Boat Millionaire (translated by the translator). The data was collected from documents, IT resources, observations and interviews. The timeframe of this study was from June 2018 to March 2019.            
            It was found that this ritual began in 1973 during the time of Luang Poo (senior Buddist monk) Ban Chantasaro, the first abbot monk who initiated this ritual and it has lasted until the present which is the time of PraSoponpattanakun, the present abbot monk. The ritual of worship is from two different parts: traditional custom and new belief. The traditional custom is related to the ceremony of offering robes to the monk and merit making ceremony in the memorial day of Luang Poo Ban Chantasaro. The new belief is to personify the Holy Spirit in the HopeaOdorataboat. This personification leads to the Holy Spirit-related activities including amulet production, miniature boat raising ritual, and miniature boat incantation.

            The ritual is more or less like the faith assembling agent which encourages moral support for people who believe in “Sayt-tee Rua Tong” in consumerism society.