The Robes of Buddhist Monks



Recall that the colour orange is my favourite of the moment and its siblings, deep yellow among others, and while this is kind of a random post to some, I can't help but notice the deep rich colours of the monks robes. At first I thought the photos of monks sitting at the temple ruins were more of a photo opp for guidebooks and publicity, but there really are monks around. They stand out anyway because they dress in such bright colours from head to toe but you could say I'm entirely mesmerized regardless by the wonderful flowing robes in such a gorgeous colour. It's hard to believe that the robes were made from (at least supposedly and traditionally) with discarded fabrics that no one wanted since the robes look so fresh and clean. I had a hard time finding out what the different shades of the robes from saffron yellow to a brown ochre mean (some sites say city monks vs. forest monks or different sects, but I don't know what to believe in). If you happen to know I'll deeply appreciate you telling me, but meanwhile we should all just admire the beauty and simplicity of the monks' habit. It's my last night in Siem Reap, and I don't want to leave just yet. I have a one day layover in Singapore the day after tomorrow so expect a ton of material posted here and on Flickr real soon. A small batch of photos of monks that I took on Bakheng is now uploaded on Flickr for all to see. Hope you will like them as much as I liked watching the sun go down on Bakheng (see below)!



No comments: