Consecration: Venerable Sao Khon keeps track of the number of times a chant is repeated, 1987

Consecration: Venerable Sao Khon keeps track of the number of times a chant is repeated, 1987

1987

Venerable Sao Khon keeps track of the number of times a chant is repeated using the string of beads. The rosary is called the Phkom and has one hundred and eight beads. Each chant during the night was repeated one hundred and eight times. The chanting, so I was told, serves to "purify the temple" and the minds of the monks; they build up concentration until the last moment when, before the break of dawn the pace of the chanting accelerates before it ends, and the statue is consecrated. Before the chanting ends the presiding monk kneels before the altar with a loaf in each hand, dips the leaves in the holy water, then snuffs the flames of the candles. After the chanting is finished the "purest" monk touches the eyes of the statue or draws the eyes with a pen.

Consecration of the Buddha Statue, photograph 37 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.

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1 photograph; 12.6 x 8.9

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