Live.See.Appreciate : Thailand's Candle Festival Wax Sculptures Preparation

The July rains mark another very significant date on the Buddhist calendar, that is Buddhist Lent. As much as Buddhists wait for this big holy day to arrive, they all look forward to one of the most spectacular festivals in Thailand – the Candle Festival, known for its presentation of elaborate wax sculpture processions around each province.

To explore the vibe of the festival preparation, our team headed up to Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand’s northeastern province that hosts the biggest candle festival in the kingdom.

Buddhist Lent candle processions were fostered through a long-time practice, which is to donate Lent candles to dispel gloom in temple quarters during the 3-month rainy period when monks and novices are encouraged to remain fixed in a particular monastery.

But the rules of evolution apply to everything - designs were added to the plain Lent candles, then competitions to reward the most intricate candles started, and the latest development is for floats to be adorned with wax sculptures with the Lent candles sitting in the middle.

Ubon Ratchathani’s candle processions have been carried out for well over 112 years. The competitions now involve 2 types based on the method of decoration: carving and employing molded beeswax pieces.

Molded Angel Faces, Phra That Nong Bua Temple

Every year, well before the festival starts, temple grounds are turned into a work space where floats are made from scratch. Phra That Nong Bua Temple is one amongst others that will be competing for the carving category.

While one team builds the sculptures’ structures with metal and coats it with plaster mixed with coconut husks, the other team prepares the beeswax sheets, made of these beeswax coins melted together. The sheets are then glued on the structures and the carving begins. Such float in the pictures is only 70% complete, and already consists of as many as 4 tons of beeswax coins.

Thung Si Muang Temple

Now, what do these sculptures depict? They usually tell of former incarnations of the Buddha or morality tales as appearing in the Dharma. One float may carry up to 4 groups of sculptures which relate 4 different stories.

While the beauty of the carved type of sculptures relies on the intricate carving patterns, the type employing molded beeswax pieces is a little more complicated as it involves countless pieces of printed and cut out beeswax and uses over 10 patterns carefully layered on top of one another upon the wax sculptures themselves.

Unlike the carved type, the molded sculptures use pure beeswax well massaged at the right temperature, then put on molds of different patterns, and die cut. A float may use as many as a million pieces and help from the locals living around the temple is necessary.

Molded Beeswax Pieces at Mana Wanaram Temple

The sculptor team leader at Mana Wanaram Temple, whose team is a nominee for the molded beeswax piece award, told me they were under pressure seeing as they were the last year’s champion. Every team wanted to win so his crew would have to work harder to guard their championship. The pride of the team cannot be traded, not even for the rewards and prizes they might get.

However, a sculptor may have a slightly different idea. Sukom Chaowalit is a full time construction worker who has come to work on the float at Burapha Temple every day off work he gets. It takes neither pride nor competition for him to be here, but it is his faith as a good Buddhist that drives him to contribute. Putting the final touch to an elephant head structure, he said his grandparents did it before him, he’s doing it, and of course, his children will be taught to keep this tradition alive.

Until this point, you may be curious about one thing - what do they do with these sculptures after the competition? No, they won’t be burnt, nor kept in a museum either. They will be displayed at the temples where they were built for a few weeks. And what comes from the earth goes back to the earth. They will eventually start to melt, and when the forms can’t be recognized, the sculptors will gather the beeswax that isn’t contaminated by the air or pollution for use in next year’s procession.