Phallic procession invokes divine showers: Thai residents parade huge wooden penis to summon rain gods (video)
Residents in the central province of Kanchanaburi took part in a ritual with an enormous wooden sculpture of a penis to invoke rain and paraded it around the community while praying to Devas, also known as Buddhism angels.
The 600 kilogrammes wooden phallic sculpture, called Palad Khik in Thai, serves as an amulet that many Thai people carry with them, praying for protection against evil spirits and ghosts. Furthermore, it is believed that the sculpture brings mercy and popularity to the person who carries it.
Palad Khik is normally crafted from wood and it is small so people can easily carry it. However, the Palad Khik crafted by residents in the Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi province is different as it weighs 600 kilogrammes.
During a conversation with Channel 3, a 45 year old Thai man, Manote, who joined the spiritual ceremony explained that the majority of locals in the area rely on agricultural activities such as cultivating cassava and corn. The lack of rain caused difficulties for residents, so they had to perform the ritual to request rainfall.
Manote said that there was rain but it was in the forest not on any of the residents’ plantations. He said…
“We wanted the Devas in heaven to pay attention to us and realised that we needed rain, so we crafted the huge wooden penis to make the Devas clearly notice it.”
Manote claimed that the ritual worked as it rained soon after the ceremony. However, the area where it was raining was not on any of the plantations. Manote said the rain would only fall in the areas indicated by the tip of the penis sculpture, necessitating frequent adjustments to guide the rain to fall at the right locations.
After it was raining, as locals wished, they then held a procession and paraded the sculpture around the community to celebrate the rain and express gratitude to Devas.
Aside from crafting penis sculptures to invoke rain, Thailand has other kinds of rituals for the same purpose and they are different according to each region. For example, locals in the northeastern provinces of Thailand will hold a rocket festival or engage in a parade of a cat. The cat should be a Thai Si Sawat breed or Korat cat which has silver-blue flur similar to a Russian blue cat.
