Tags

,

gong

Large gongs are not an unusual sight when visiting wats in Thailand. I take a lot of pictures of them. I don’t know why. This one is at Wat Pho, just outside of the building that houses the reclining Buddha. Its noisy existence helps remind me that that Buddha is called a reclining Buddha and not a sleeping Buddha. “Cuz with all the visitors smacking the hell out of the gong Buddha wouldn’t get much sleep.

You’d think as prominent as they are they’d have some deep spiritual significance in the Buddhist religion. But the best I can find is they’re used by worshipers to announce their presence to the gods. I’ll buy that since there is a lack of any better purpose from what I can find. But it seems to me if those gods are truly godlike they’d already know you are there. And might even get pissed at the insult of you thinking you need to make a loud noise to alert them to that fact. Silly humans. I think that ‘alert the gods to your presence’ thingy is just a simple and convenient excuse for giving a large gong a good whack. The truth is that everyone enjoys hitting a gong and hearing it reverberate across the courtyard. And that alone should be reason enough for their existence.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy:

Bonus Shot: The Loha Prasat

Bonus Shot: The Loha Prasat

Bonus Shot: A Little Head @ Wat U-Mong

Bonus Shot: A Little Head @ Wat U-Mong

Bonus Shot: Wat Pho Reverence

Bonus Shot: Wat Pho Reverence