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Canon Image Challenge | all galleries >> Challenges From The Past >> 2017 Challenges >> CIC 161 Winter Morning >> Exhibition > Monks' Breakfast
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29-DEC-2015 Dave

Monks' Breakfast

Luang Prabang, Laos

A timeless place of no seasons.

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Canon Image Challenge13-Jan-2017 13:01
A totally different culture. We visited a catholic monistary in north west Missouri and the catholic monks get into a chow line too but it's in the cafeteria rather than on the streets. Commoners are invited to eat too (we did) but the monks withdraw to a special room for their meals. Maybe I need to visit one of the Buda monistarys nearby for a comparison. Paul
Canon Image Challenge13-Jan-2017 02:11
Paul, the containers the monks are carrying are for the rice that is given to them. We had a lovely and charming local guide who schooled us well about the daily event (I've placed a picture of her in Pending), and as a consequence we were among the well-behaved.

Dave
Canon Image Challenge12-Jan-2017 19:23
There is some controversy:

"Locals here (usually women seeking to earn merit for their families) get up before dawn to prepare the fresh rice they give to the monks. They line up alongside the road, kneeling, with head and feet bare as a sign of humility. As the monks walk past, the women quickly and silently place a small offering in each bowl without making direct eye contact. Giving alms is a cultural and religious ritual that carries great meaning for the locals – they practice it with commitment, care, and deep thoughtfulness.

The unique picturesque symbolism of the monks making their dawn rounds has made it one of Luang Prabang’s premier tourist attractions. Some locals have capitalized upon this by staking out places where alms-giving occurs and selling unsuspecting tourists rice that they can offer to the monks. These rice and cakes sold by the hawkers are often not fresh, and tourists who do not fully understand the meaning of the ceremony or how to perform it respectfully then offer this left-over food to the monks. This is disruptive to nearby locals and to the monks (who, from what I understand, do not want these offerings that are not prepared or given in the proper spirit of humility and thoughtfulness by their community or by genuine seekers who approach the ritual with reverence"

Traveller
Canon Image Challenge12-Jan-2017 14:59
This has a lot of the elements that I like - nice leading lines, and bright color. I want to study all the faces.

Jim
Canon Image Challenge12-Jan-2017 12:12
And not a single one of the are texting or googling on a smartphone. Even tho we who live 30 degrees above or below the equator associate winter with cold, snow and ice it's not a given and Jura wisely didn't specify that it had to have it.
What are the containers that most of the monks appear to be carrying. Paul.
Canon Image Challenge12-Jan-2017 01:48
This really is timeless...and certainly morning (the only time this takes place). I truly miss
Luang Prabang. Happy, happy times. Traveller