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If I’d lit as many candles at wats and shrines in Thailand as I’ve taken pictures of them I’d be in grand standing with the gods by now. Night or day, flaming or snuffed, new or almost nothing but drippings left, I’ve snapped them all and still haven’t come up with the definitive candle photograph yet. I’m not sure what the attraction is. It’s not like they are Ubiquitous Plastic Stools. That candles that are no longer lit still catch my eye seems strange but saves me from having to be concerned over a trait that I would otherwise have in common with serial killers. Perhaps spending time in temples, even if it is just to take photographs of candles, probably doesn’t hurt either.
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The attraction is not difficult to see. They have some bright color and interesting shapes. And because they are numerous there are lots of composition possibilities. I’m trying to think if I have ever seen candles any color except yellow anywhere I have been in SE Asia. The butter candles in Bhutan are more white though I guess when they are not burning. It’s not quite like colorful votives in Catholic churches from that standpoint.
Huh. It had not dawned on me until your comment that those candles are always yellow. I turned to Google to find out why, and other than learning that Buddhists (or at least its Westerner converts) make up shit about their religion just like overzealous Christians do, I couldn’t discover if there was a reason. As important as colors are to Thais, and since it seems to be a uniform practice to offer yellow candles, it seems to me there should be a purpose other than traditional use of beeswax or that some feel yellow is the color of Buddhism.
Anyone have the answer?
(On the plus side, that search did lead me to noting the candelabra used at wats is often in the shape of one of the royal barges – never noticed that before, but looking at my far too numerous candle photos that should have been glaringly obvious. And now I have an excuse for another candle bonus shot post!)
I recall when my guide got a bunch of candles for the Pak Ou cave photos I wanted to shoot in Luang Prabang they were also yellow.
I noticed the same from pictures I took in Cambodia.
Boy if someone has the monopoly on temple candles they could afford to run over an entire village with their Ferrari.