Phitsanulok to mark 660th anniversary of Buddha statue with dance procession
Phitsanulok province will organise a grand procession on April 28 involving hundreds of dancers to commemorate the making of the deeply revered Phra Buddha Shinaraj statue 660 years ago.
Pattama Iamsuwan, chairwoman of Phitsanulok Red Cross, said the province is still enlisting dancers to join the procession of 1,660 dancers.
The rite will start at Chomnan Park at 3 pm and the procession will begin at 4pm. The procession will stop in front of the Phitsanulok railway station where the 1,660 dancers will perform the first dance.
The procession will then move on to the Buddha Shinaraj Temple inside Wat Phra Si Mahathat where the dancers will perform the second dance at 5.30pm.
Dancers will have rehearsals on Wednesday and Thursday and again on April 24 and 25, she said.
Historians believe the Buddha statue was built in 1357 and was kept at Wat Phra si Mahathat until 1899 when King Rama IV ordered the transfer of the Buddha statue to the then newly-built Wat Benjamabophit in Bangkok. King Rama V also ordered the construction of a replica of the original Phra Buddha Shinaraj, which has since been kept at Wat Phra Si Mahathat.