Abstract

There were 3 purposes of this thesis to 1) study the history of “Tao A Yong Kyat” ceremony, 2) study the virtues and beliefs regarding to “Tao A Yong Kyat”, and 3) study on ritual arrangement of ‘“Tao A Yong Kyat” ’ according to tradition of Wat Makham community. It was a documentary research done by reviewing the scriptures, books, related texts proposed to advisor, corrected by his advices and finally written in descriptive type. The study was found that;

“Tao A Yong Kyat” literally means the rise of the Great Buddha by imitating the events when the Buddha practiced extreme meditation after having received Madhupayasa rice from Sujata, processed on the bank of Neranjara river. At the river bank, he made resolution with floating tray reversing up the river sinking and stacking   with the tray of previous Buddhas which was guarded by Naga who suddenly uttered that the Buddha had arisen again, such great event happened quickly. Mon people had made its imitation in concrete form.

“Tao A Yong Kyat” ceremony is a ritual regarding to the Buddha image making to dedicate to their ancestors of Mon people with gratitude to their dead relatives. They believed that the sacrifice done through this ceremony will result the divine properties to their ancestors due to their strong beliefs on the Buddhism and strict Buddhists doctrine of merit and demerit because the teaching of the Buddha deals with human life from birth till death. In addition, Mon people felt most respects to the Buddha’s teaching regarding to the right deeds done correctly would bring a great fruit of merits to their lives, relatives, family.

The performance of “Tao A Yong Kyat” ritual at Wat Makham has been well preserved and carried on by Mon community up to present by long vision of 2 previous abbots of Wat Makham on which if this ritual will be arranged as in the past, then it will be disappear because this ritual will be arranged only for the relatives not in public in which less people can participate, therefore the previous abbots had modified the schedule time of the ritual for public participating in order to make public impressed and well-recognized. When public had experienced, then they would arrange by himself. It also will be the social norms and this Buddhist ritual will remain for long time, while many traditional rituals had been disappeared due to its expensive cost and diffitulties. At the present, “Tao A Yong Kyat” ritual arrangement of Mon people at Wat Makham may be different from other Mon communities for attracting visitors but its essence of ritual still remains the same.

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