Baan Bat: The Last Monk's Bowl Village

According to Buddhist precepts and religious traditions, monks are allowed only two possessions: their robes and their alms bowl. Buddhist monks are not allowed to buy and sell, or to own their own property. Instead, they must rely on donations of food and supplies from their community. The daily alms round, which usually takes place just before or around dawn every morning, is a vitally important part of a monk's daily routine. Monks are allowed to eat one and only one meal per day - it must be finished before noon - and they may only eat what has been donated to them.

I watched the morning alms round in Luang Prabang, Laos, a few years back. Check out my writeup about the experience HERE: https://michaeldesrosiers.blogspot.com/2018/09/sai-bat-alms-giving-ceremony.html

Traditionally, the alms bowls carried by the monks were made by hand according to ancient regulations. Today, most are made in factories, but one last remnant of the ancient craft remains: Baan Bat, the "Monk's Bowl Village". This quiet community, which lies tucked in a narrow alleyway behind the Temple of the Golden Mount, is the sole remaining community in Bangkok that still produces alms bowls by hand.

Alms bowls are made of eight pieces of metal (representing the "Eightfold Path" of Buddha's teachings), and are pounded into shape by a workman wielding a small metal hammer. It takes two days to produce one bowl.

The metal is fired, shaped, soldered, hammered, and polished with a traditional lacquer. Each step takes place at a different house in the community, and each family is responsible for training future generations as craftsmen for each specific step. Today, the community produces around 50 bowls per month, not counting the tiny ones that they make to sell to visitors and tourists.

It's a noisy place, with the constant bang, bang, bang of the craftsmen hammering the metal into the proper shape, but it's a fascinating and vibrant place to visit, and a last look at a disappearing aspect of a very traditional piece of Thai culture. 

The bowls aren't only for monks, though! In fact, if you visit Baan Bat, you can buy an alms bowl for yourself. The large ones (the type of bowl that the monks themselves carry) cost 1,500 THB (about $50), while the small ones, which take far less time to make but which are only for decoration, cost 500 THB (about $15). Selling these beautiful and unique works of art is how the community still continues to support itself as the sole producers of traditional handmade alms bowls in Bangkok.