It's an age old tradition and part of Thai religious culture to bless a house before construction. The idea is to provide the site with lashings of good luck for a happy, prosperous and safe future.
At the invitation of Jerome, a Dutch expat who intends to develop several modern houses in the city, Buriram Times attended just such an interesting event.
A highly experienced senior Buddhist scholar was appointed to perform the blessing ceremony. He appeared dressed in pure white from head to toe.
First of all, white string was ceremoniously looped around the foundations of the building. Offerings to Buddha, in the form of fruit, food and water, were then placed on a table. 15 minutes of expert chanting then ensued, while the family and workers crouched around the building site and listened in intently.
Next, a loud cheer broke out from workers, as the first column of Iron bars was hoisted and placed into the foundations.
To complete the blessing water was splashed by the Buddhist scholar over both the family and the site itself. All done from a decorative shiny, silver bowl.
All parties seemed cheerful and happy that their site was now blessed. Building could go ahead safe in the knowege that good luck was now assured.
This blessing took place on Monday 19th May 2014. We took more photographs just three weeks later to show the amazingly fast progress of the construction.
Chanting
Cheer When Metal Rods Went In
Three Weeks Later
Artist Impressions
For any interested parties, the project managers and agents for these properly blessed properties are the well established and highly experienced company of Buriram Isaan Property.