Annual festival honours descendants of monkey god
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The annual Monkey Festival held at the Pra Prang Sam Yot Buddhist temple in Lop Buri has become a major tourist attraction.
The owner of the Lopburi Inn Hotel, Yongyuth Kitwatananusont, began the festival in 1989 to show appreciation to the town’s crab-eating macaques for bringing good luck to businesses.
Each year, on the last weekend of November, an elaborate feast is prepared for the thousands of crab-eating macaques that call the central province home.
Varieties of fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, grapes, peanuts, corn and cucumbers are served at the feast, along with cakes and boiled eggs.
Residents believe honouring the macaques with a feast will bring good fortune. Many believe the monkeys are descendants of the Hindu god Hanuman.
More than 3,000 macaques now reside in or within near reach of the temple, and flock to the festival in their honour.
