Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, attired in white dress on the right, attended the religious ceremony and Phraboth cloth parade yesterday to pay respect to Wat Phra Mahathat Nakhon Si Thammarat pagoda during her four-day tour of the South. Her visit to
Nakhon Si Thammarat – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday wore the white dress of a devout Buddhist to launch a campaign to list Phra Baromathat Chedi, believed to house a relic of the |Lord Buddha, as a World Heritage Site.“I’m glad to see the smiles on your faces on this occasion when we should have the opportunity to make merit together to promote Phra Baromathat as a World Heritage Site,” she said in her greetings to local residents.
Yingluck, on a three-day visit to the South, arrived by helicopter from Koh Samui to preside over the ceremony at the gold-spired chedi in Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan Temple.
She said religious patronage would bless all Nakhon Si Thammarat residents with prosperity and good health.
She then proceeded to kick off the campaign by ringing a sacred gong three times. Immediately a cloudburst dumped heavy rain on the crowd, causing wild speculation among the superstitious on whether it was a good or bad omen.
According to a report by Culture Minister Sukumol Kunplome, Unesco put the temple and its chedi on its tentative world heritage list in August.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, the prime minister met two revered monks, Abbot Phra Thep Winyaporn and Phra Khru Piya Kunakorn of Khun Khao Phanom Temple.
The temple’s abbot gave her reproductions of the chedi and of a Buddha Sihing statue, as well as a blessed coin from the reign of King Rama VI as souvenirs of the ceremony.
Phra Khru Piya presented her with a picture of King Taksin and asked for it to be kept at Government House as a reminder to emulate the late monarch’s efforts to consolidate the country.
Along the route taken by the prime minister, red shirts showed up to form a welcoming committee. They held up banners with pro-government messages.
Police kept out some 60 residents who wanted to voice opposition to the temple listing. They fear it may open the door to foreigners managing the religious grounds.
Before concluding her trip to Nakhon Si Thammarat, Yingluck held a working lunch with tour operators and business owners at a seaside resort in Si Chon district.
A key organiser for the luncheon was Deputy Agriculture Minister Natthawut Saikua, a Surat Thani native who married into a Nakhon Si Thammarat family.
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未经允许不得转载：综合资讯 » Heavens open up on PM at temple ceremony