Loy krathong Festivall
one of most popular festivals in early
November is the loy krathoog Festival lt
tales place at a time when the weather is fine as the rainy scason is over and
tbere ishigh water lever all over the
Countr
"Loy" means to float and a" krathong" is
a lotus-shaped vessel made of banana
leaves The krathong usually contains a
Candle three joss-sticks flowers and
coins ln fact the festival is of Brahmin
Origin in which people offer thanks to
the Goddess of the water Thus bymoonlight people light the candles and
joss-sticks make a wish and launch their
Krathongs on canals rivers or even small
Ponds lt is believed that the krathongs
carry away sins and bad luck and the wishes that have been made for the newp
year due to
start lndeed it is the time to be joyful
and happy as the sufferings are floated
away The festival starts in the evening
when there is a full moon in the sky
people of all walks of life carry ther krathongs to the nearby rivers After lighting candles and joss-sticks and
making a wish they gently place the
Krathongs on the water and let them
drift away till they go out of sight
A Beauty Queen Contest is a important
part of the festival and for this occasion it is called "The Noppamas Queen contest" Noppamas is a legendary figure from the Sukhothai period Old
documents refer to her as the chief royal consort of a sukhothai king named
"Lithai" Nuppamas was said to have made the first decorated krathong to float in
the river on the occasion
l Bangkok major establishments such as
leading hotels and amusement parks organise their Loy krathong Festival and
the krathong contest as mafor annual
function