Each year Ubon Ratchathani holds a candle festival on Asalha Bucha Day and Khao Phansa (Buddhist Lent) day. In my imagination I thought it would be a few stalls with scented candles and a few displays that look fairly good against the dark night sky. I was completely wrong as usual and it reminded me once again I should never make an assumption based on a simple name.
The candles were nothing like the ones you find in the trendy local shops of Uppermill or Hebden Bridge (in the UK), in fact they were nothing like candles. I don't think I saw a single display with a candle burning either. The only thing in common with the 'trendy candles of England' was the wax, and even that wasn't really the same.
Once we found a parking place (no different from Uppermill in that respect!) we entered the park and immediately came across displays mounted on the back of fairly modest 4x4 trucks. The carvings were made entirely out of wax and represented images from Buddhist mythology with intricate and ornate detail. I was impressed and as I looked down the line I could see many similar trucks far into the distance. The place was heaving with people but the atmosphere was friendly and happy with a mix of young and old, Thai and farang.
As we progressed down the park the displays became bigger and the quality was improving with some impressive work being proudly displayed by the sculptors. Their imagination was excellent and they still had work to do to keep their masterpieces from melting by spraying water in a fine spray at regular intervals. I'm not sure of the exact method used in sculpting, but I think the wax must be melted over a framework and then finely carved by hot knife. I suppose if a mistake is made you can melt it back and start again.
There must have been over a hundred displays and eventually we came across the Premier League giants of the Ubon Candle Festival. These were enormous displays depicting scenes from Buddha's life and his journey to Nirvana. Unbelievable skill revealed in a corner of Thailand.
Sadly the cost of producing these displays means that number of exhibits is declining and the size of them reducing. It was estimated that the big displays cost 500,000 baht (getting on for £8,000) which is a lot of money in this part of the world.
The candles were nothing like the ones you find in the trendy local shops of Uppermill or Hebden Bridge (in the UK), in fact they were nothing like candles. I don't think I saw a single display with a candle burning either. The only thing in common with the 'trendy candles of England' was the wax, and even that wasn't really the same.
Once we found a parking place (no different from Uppermill in that respect!) we entered the park and immediately came across displays mounted on the back of fairly modest 4x4 trucks. The carvings were made entirely out of wax and represented images from Buddhist mythology with intricate and ornate detail. I was impressed and as I looked down the line I could see many similar trucks far into the distance. The place was heaving with people but the atmosphere was friendly and happy with a mix of young and old, Thai and farang.
As we progressed down the park the displays became bigger and the quality was improving with some impressive work being proudly displayed by the sculptors. Their imagination was excellent and they still had work to do to keep their masterpieces from melting by spraying water in a fine spray at regular intervals. I'm not sure of the exact method used in sculpting, but I think the wax must be melted over a framework and then finely carved by hot knife. I suppose if a mistake is made you can melt it back and start again.
There must have been over a hundred displays and eventually we came across the Premier League giants of the Ubon Candle Festival. These were enormous displays depicting scenes from Buddha's life and his journey to Nirvana. Unbelievable skill revealed in a corner of Thailand.
Sadly the cost of producing these displays means that number of exhibits is declining and the size of them reducing. It was estimated that the big displays cost 500,000 baht (getting on for £8,000) which is a lot of money in this part of the world.
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