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Spirituality in Thailand

28 images Created 10 Apr 2015

Thailand is a Buddhist country, officially about 90% of the country is Buddhist. But the unseen is all around you here. There is tremendous religious diversity in Thailand, with very active Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Sikh communities. I've been photographing spirituality in all its forms in Thailand for years. These are a few of the photos. I'll add more photos to this gallery as I work on new stories about religion in Thailand.

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  • 31 MARCH 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A monk with a walker at Wat Benchamabophit in Bangkok waits for Buddhist lay people to bring alms to the temple. Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram, a Buddhist temple (wat) in the Dusit district of Bangkok, Thailand. Also known as the marble temple, it is one of Bangkok's best known temples and a major tourist attraction. It typifies Bangkok's ornate style of high gables, stepped-out roofs and elaborate finials. Monastic life at Wat Bencha differs from most other temples in that lay people come to the temple to present food and alms to the monks rather than the monks going out and walking through the community as they do at most other Thai temples.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    WatBencha0331014.jpg
  • 04 MARCH 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: Buddhist monks participate in a procession around the "wiharn," or prayer hall, at Wat Benchamabophit on Makha Bucha Day. Makha Bucha Day is an important Buddhist holy day and public holiday in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Many people go to temples to perform merit-making activities on Makha Bucha Day. Wat Benchamabophit is one of the most popular Buddhist temples in Bangkok.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MakhaBuchaDay2015036.jpg
  • 04 MARCH 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A woman carries a flower garland while she prays and walks around the prayer hall at Wat Benchamabophit on Makha Bucha Day. Makha Bucha Day is an important Buddhist holy day and public holiday in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Many people go to temples to perform merit-making activities on Makha Bucha Day. Wat Benchamabophit is one of the most popular Buddhist temples in Bangkok.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MakhaBuchaDay2015007.jpg
  • 04 FEBRUARY 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A Buddhist monk on his morning alms rounds in a working class neighborhood of Bangkok. After months of relative calm following the May 2014 coup, tensions are increasing in Bangkok. The military backed junta has threatened to crack down on anyone who opposes the government. Relations with the United States have deteriorated after Daniel Russel, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that normalization of relations between Thailand and the US would depend on the restoration of a credible democratically elected government in Thailand.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BgkPoliticalMood006.jpg
  • 10 APRIL 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A man prays at Masjid Ton Son in Bangkok during Friday mid day prayers. (Masjid is the Thai word for Mosque.) A Pew Research Center study recently released identified Islam as the fastest growing religion in the world. Masjid Ton Son was the first mosque in Bangkok, founded in 1688 during the reign of King Narai, of the Ayutthaya era. Muslims are about 5 percent of Thailand, but make up a bigger proportion of Bangkok. Thailand's deep south provinces are Muslim majority.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    FridayPrayersTonSonMosque022.jpg
  • 10 APRIL 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: Thai Muslim teenagers eat lunch at a food stall in a Muslim neighborhood near Ton Son Mosque in Bangkok. A Pew Research Center study recently released identified Islam as the fastest growing religion in the world. Masjid Ton Son was the first mosque in Bangkok, founded in 1688 during the reign of King Narai, of the Ayutthaya era. Muslims are about 5 percent of Thailand, but make up a bigger proportion of Bangkok. Thailand's deep south provinces are Muslim majority.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    FridayPrayersTonSonMosque010.jpg
  • 26 JULY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:   A man prays before eating the Iftar meal at Haroon Mosque in Bangkok. Iftar is the Muslim meal that breaks the day long fast during Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which Muslims believe the Quran was revealed. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Muslims believe that the Quran was sent down during this month, thus being prepared for gradual revelation by Jibraeel (Gabriel) to the prophet Muhammad.         PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    IftarHaroonMosque0726032.jpg
  • 08 AUGUST 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A man tends to his wife’s grave in the Muslim cemetery next to Haroon Mosque after Eid al-Fitr services in Bangkok. Tending graves is a tradition on Eid. Eid al-Fitr is the "festival of breaking of the fast,” it’s also called the Lesser Eid. It’s an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. The religious Eid is a single day and Muslims are not permitted to fast that day. The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting during the entire month of Ramadan. This is a day when Muslims around the world show a common goal of unity. The date for the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on the observation of new moon by local religious authorities, so the exact day of celebration varies by locality.      PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidAlFitrBKK0808044.jpg
  • 11 JULY 2013 - PATTANI, PATTANI, THAILAND: Men pray outside of Pattani Central Mosque in Pattani, Thailand, Thursday night for Ramadan services. The mosque is one of the busiest in south Thailand. About 15,000 people attend nightly Ramadan services in the mosque. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which Muslims believe the Quran was revealed. Muslims believe that the Quran was sent down during this month, thus being prepared for gradual revelation by Jibraeel (Gabriel) to the Prophet Muhammad. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.      PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    RamadanService0711004.jpg
  • 11 JULY 2013 - PATTANI, PATTANI, THAILAND:  Women pray outside of Pattani Central Mosque in Pattani, Thailand, Thursday night for Ramadan services. The mosque is one of the busiest in south Thailand. About 15,000 people attend nightly Ramadan services in the mosque. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which Muslims believe the Quran was revealed. Muslims believe that the Quran was sent down during this month, thus being prepared for gradual revelation by Jibraeel (Gabriel) to the Prophet Muhammad. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    RamadanService0711029.jpg
  • 11 JULY 2013 - PATTANI, PATTANI, THAILAND:  Women pray in front of Pattani Central Mosque in Pattani, Thailand, Thursday night for Ramadan services. The mosque is one of the busiest in south Thailand. About 15,000 people attend nightly Ramadan services in the mosque. The crowd is so large it spills out of the mosque and onto the streets around it. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and the month in which Muslims believe the Quran was revealed. Muslims believe that the Quran was sent down during this month, thus being prepared for gradual revelation by Jibraeel (Gabriel) to the Prophet Muhammad. The month is spent by Muslims fasting during the daylight hours from dawn to sunset. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    RamadanService0711014.jpg
  • 08 JULY 2013 - PATTANI, PATTANI, THAILAND:   A Thai Muslim woman and her daughter at a seafood barbecue restaurant in Pattani, Thailand, Monday, the day before Ramadan. Ramadan starts July 9 and Monday was the last day observant Muslims were able to eat and drink during daylight hours. Muslims fast during the holy month of Ramadan, taking breakfast before dawn and not eating again until after sunset. The restaurants in Pattani, a Muslim majority city in southern Thailand, were packed Monday afternoon and evening.  PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    RamadanEve070813014.jpg
  • 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND: 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND:  Men and teenaged boys attend Eid al-Adha services in the mosque in the villiage Pulasaiz, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. Eid al-Adha, also called Feast of the Sacrifice, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his firstborn son Ishmael as an act of submission to God, and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In 2012 Eid al-Adha was celebrated Oct 25 - 26.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidAlAdhaNarathiwat016.jpg
  • 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND: Girls play on the swings in the courtyard of the mosque on the holiday of Eid al-Adha in the villiage Pulasaiz, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. Eid al-Adha, also called Feast of the Sacrifice, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his firstborn son Ishmael as an act of submission to God, and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In 2012 Eid al-Adha was celebrated Oct 25 - 26.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidAlAdhaNarathiwat004.jpg
  • 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND: A bull sacrificed in God's name for Eid al-Adha bleeds out after its throat was cut in the villiage Pulasaiz, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. The sacrificed cow is butchered and divided into seven portions. The meat is shared with families of lesser means, widows and orphans. It is the one day of the year that some people in the community get to eat beef (In Muslim communities in Thailand, cows are usually sacrificed. In other Muslim countries it is often sheep.) Eid al-Adha, also called Feast of the Sacrifice, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his firstborn son Ishmael as an act of submission to God, and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In 2012 Eid al-Adha was celebrated Oct 25 - 26.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidAlAdhaNarathiwat032.jpg
  • 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND:  A Thai Muslim teenager in her best Eid clothing in the villiage Pulasaiz, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. Eid al-Adha, also called Feast of the Sacrifice, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his firstborn son Ishmael as an act of submission to God, and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In 2012 Eid al-Adha was celebrated Oct 25 - 26. People frequently wear the best clothing or buy special outfits for the day.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidAlAdhaNarathiwat033.jpg
  • 28 JULY 2014 - KHLONG HAE, SONGKHLA, THAILAND: Men greet each other after Eid services at Songkhla Central Mosque in Songkhla province of Thailand. Eid al-Fitr is also called Feast of Breaking the Fast, the Sugar Feast, Bayram (Bajram), the Sweet Festival and the Lesser Eid, is an important Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidHatYai2014034.jpg
  • 15 FEBRUARY 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A woman prays during mass in Santa Cruz Catholic Church in the Kudeejeen neighborhood in Bangkok. Santa Cruz church was established in 1770  and is one of the oldest and most historic Catholic churches in Thailand. The church was originally built by Portuguese soldiers allied with King Taksin the Great. Taksin authorized the church as a thanks to the Portuguese who assisted the Siamese during the war with Burma. Most of the Catholics in the neighborhood trace their family roots to the original Portuguese soldiers who married Siamese (Thai) women. There are about 300,000 Catholics in Thailand in about 430 Catholic parishes and about 660 Catholic priests in Thailand. Thais are tolerant of other religions and although Thailand is officially Buddhist, Catholics are allowed to freely practice and people who convert to Catholicism are not discriminated against.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    SantaCruzMass031.jpg
  • 15 FEBRUARY 2015 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A woman and her daughter sit in front of the sanctuary during Sunday mass at Santa Cruz Catholic Church in the Kudeejeen neighborhood in Bangkok. Santa Cruz church was established in 1770  and is one of the oldest and most historic Catholic churches in Thailand. The church was originally built by Portuguese soldiers allied with King Taksin the Great. Taksin authorized the church as a thanks to the Portuguese who assisted the Siamese during the war with Burma. Most of the Catholics in the neighborhood trace their family roots to the original Portuguese soldiers who married Siamese (Thai) women. There are about 300,000 Catholics in Thailand in about 430 Catholic parishes and about 660 Catholic priests in Thailand. Thais are tolerant of other religions and although Thailand is officially Buddhist, Catholics are allowed to freely practice and people who convert to Catholicism are not discriminated against.      PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    SantaCruzMass025.jpg
  • Santa Claud delivers candy to parishioners during Christmas services at Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist but Christmas is widely celebrated throughout the country. Buddhists mark the day with secular gift giving but there are about 300,000 Catholics in Thailand who celebrate religious Christmas. Catholics first came to Thailand (then Siam) in 1567 as chaplain for Portuguese mercenaries in the employ of the Siamese monarchy. There has been a continuous Catholic presence in Thailand since then.
    ChristmasInBangkok016.jpg
  • The children choir sings carols during Christmas services at Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist but Christmas is widely celebrated throughout the country. Buddhists mark the day with secular gift giving but there are about 300,000 Catholics in Thailand who celebrate religious Christmas. Catholics first came to Thailand (then Siam) in 1567 as chaplain for Portuguese mercenaries in the employ of the Siamese monarchy. There has been a continuous Catholic presence in Thailand since then.
    ChristmasInBangkok009.jpg
  • People pray in front of a doll that represents the Baby Jesus in a nativity scene during Christmas services at Holy Redeemer Church in Bangkok. Thailand is predominantly Buddhist but Christmas is widely celebrated throughout the country. Buddhists mark the day with secular gift giving but there are about 300,000 Catholics in Thailand who celebrate religious Christmas. Catholics first came to Thailand (then Siam) in 1567 as chaplain for Portuguese mercenaries in the employ of the Siamese monarchy. There has been a continuous Catholic presence in Thailand since then.
    ChristmasInBangkok007.jpg
  • 31 MARCH 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:     Dachanee (Kaew) Ariso prays during Easter services at the Thai Peace Foundation office in the Bangkapi section of Bangkok.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    ChristianityTodayNewFriars061.jpg
  • 08 FEBRUARY 2015  BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A Muslim woman and her children finish their breakfast during the community meal at the Sikh temple in Bangkok. Thailand has a small but influential Sikh community. Sikhs started coming to Thailand, then Siam, in the 1890s. There are now several thousand Thai-Indian Sikh families. The Sikh temple in Bangkok, Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, was established in 1913. The current building, adjacent to the original Gurdwara ("Gateway to the Guru"), was built in 1979. The Sikh community serves a daily free vegetarian meal at the Gurdwara that is available to people of any faith and background.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BangkokSikhs030.jpg
  • 08 FEBRUARY 2015  BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A man studies Sikh texts in a Guru Granth Sahib at the Sikh temple in Bangkok. Thailand has a small but influential Sikh community. Sikhs started coming to Thailand, then Siam, in the 1890s. There are now several thousand Thai-Indian Sikh families. Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha was established in 1913. Construction of the current building, adjacent to the original Gurdwara ("Gateway to the Guru"), started in 1979 and was finished in 1981. The Sikh community serves a daily free vegetarian meal at the Gurdwara that is available to people of any faith and background.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BangkokSikhs017.jpg
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Jack Kurtz, Photojournalist & Travel Photographer

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