Consecration: Castle of Angels, 1987

Consecration: Castle of Angels, 1987

1987

Dressed in white, the laity assemble before the altar, referred to as the "Castle of Angels," to pray and invoke the spirit's blessing for the ceremony. The achar stands before the congregation to lead them in prayer. The altar which was made especially for the ceremony has three tiers. Arranged on the first tier are a pair of Bai Si, a vase of eleven lit candles, unopened packages of incense sticks, unlit candles, and two lit candles placed in candle sticks. The second tier has a pair of Bai Si, two trays of fruit, an American and Cambodian flag, a vase of flowers, and a bottle of coke. The third tier has a pair of Bai Si, two vases of silk flowers, and the six-tiered umbrella tree, called the Chhat Ruit, representing the five lives of the Buddha and his future life.

Consecration, photograph 1 of 45, from Cambodian Traditional Crafts and Religious Ceremonies.

View the Consecration group of photographs in order on the Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/BuddhaConcecration.

University of Massachusetts Lowell

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1 photograph; 12.6 x 8.8

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