Photo: Siriwatv / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Poy Luang: Lanna's Great Temple Celebration
Poy luang (พอฯยฯหลฯวฯง, Kham Mueang reading poi luang) is the celebration of a permanent building in a temple, such as an ordination hall, a vihara, a chedi or a sermon hall, as the Moradok Lanna dictionary explains it. It is a great merit-making festival for which the whole village works together for several days, with tung lining the roads, processions of offerings (khua tan), the sound of the great drum and troupes of dancers. Some people host a poy luang only once or twice in their whole lives.
What is poy luang?
The dictionary explains the word poy (พอฯยฯ, poi) as "a celebration, a festivity", and luang means great, so poy luang is a temple's "great celebration". The Payap University Library explains that it is called poy luang because it is a large event that needs the cooperation of many villagers, and because the thing being celebrated was built from the villagers' own faith: an ordination hall, a vihara, a pavilion, monks' living quarters or a temple wall.
The person who sponsors the building is called the chao sattha (เจั้าสัทธฯาฯ, Kham Mueang reading chao sattha, "lord of faith"), and going to enjoy the festival is called aeo poi luang (แอ่วฯพอฯยฯหลฯวฯง).
A study by Wutthiphong Kham-on (วุฒิพงศ์ คำออน) and colleagues (2025), citing the book Prapheni 12 Duean Lanna Thai [The twelve-month traditions of Lanna Thai] by Manee Payomyong, explains that poy luang is the dedication of a building to the Sangha, together with the dedication of merit to one's ancestors.
Wan da, wan kin, wan tan: the order of a poy luang
The Payap University Library (citing an article by Chakkraphong Khambunrueang (จักรพงษ์ คำบุญเรือง), 2019) says a poy luang is usually held over 2–3 days, and each locality may name the days a little differently.
The first day is called wan taeng da or wan hang da. The dictionary gives taeng da (แต่งฯดา) and hang da (ห้างฯดา) as meaning to get everything ready, and wan da (วันฯดา) is the "eve", the day of preparation one day before the main day. Villagers prepare savoury and sweet dishes, fruit and the things they will offer to the temple, which is called taeng da khua tan (แต่งฯดาระฯค฿วฯทาฯนฯ).
The second day is called wan kin ("eating day"). Households invite relatives and friends to join them and serve trays of food. It is one of the most enjoyable days of the festival.
The last day is wan tan (วันฯทาฯนฯ), which the dictionary explains as "the day of offering the building to be the property of the temple". Each household carries its tree of offerings into the temple in procession, led by a brass band and folk music, with relatives dancing all the way. In some places this day is therefore called wan khua tan khao ("the day the offerings go in").
Khua tan: the offerings carried into the temple
Khrua (ระฯค฿วฯ), read khua in Kham Mueang, is given in the dictionary as "utensils, fittings, objects, things", so khua tan means things taken to be offered as alms. The dictionary has the phrase khua kin khua tan (ระฯค฿วฯกินฯระฯค฿วฯทาฯนฯ): "things prepared for eating and for offering at a merit-making event".
The Payap University Library explains that a ton khua tan (tree of offerings) has a square wooden frame so that people can carry it on their shoulders. On top is a pointed spire made of thatch grass, stuck with money and things for monks and novices to use, such as soap, toothbrushes, notebooks and pencils. Each household's tree is different: some make a spire shaped like a bodhi leaf, others offer tables and chairs, according to their own creativity. But the most important part is the spire, usually made of banknotes clipped to bamboo sticks in tiers. This matches the dictionary word ton ngoen (ต้฿นฯเงินฯ, "money tree"): "an offering made mainly of banknotes".
Before the offering, people often recite the kam su-ma khua tan (คำฯสูมาระฯค฿วฯทาฯนฯ). The dictionary explains it as words asking forgiveness of the offerings, because while preparing them the faithful may have given offence in body, speech or mind, so they ask that the gifts be "without blemish" before they are offered.
Hua wat: a network of merit-making
A poy luang is not the event of one temple alone. Hua wat (ห฿วฯวัดฯ) means "temples that are members of a network that makes merit together". When one temple holds a poy luang, the faithful from the different hua wat bring processions of offerings to join it. Contributing money or goods at the festival is called hom poi (รอฯมพอฯยฯ) or hom tan (รอฯมทาฯนฯ), "joining in the merit".
The monk invited by the host temple to receive the offerings and give blessings is called, according to the Payap University Library, the chao phon ("lord of blessings") or tu chao pan pon (tu chao (ทุเจั้า) means a monk and pan pon (ปันฯพอฯร) means to give a blessing). Monks with a beautiful voice and a gift for eloquent language are preferred; some describe the beauty of each tree of offerings, to the delight of those who offer it.
Tung along the road: the sign of a poy luang
The tung (ทุง) is the banner of Lanna. The dictionary explains the word tan tung (ทาฯนฯทุง) as tung planted along the roads near a temple, a sign "showing that the temple will hold a celebration of a permanent building (poy luang)".
The Payap University Library tells how, about 2–3 days before the festival, villagers offer tung woven from cotton in many colours and decorated with silver and gold thread, some embroidered with the 12 zodiac signs, about 2 metres long. They are tied to the tips of bamboo poles and planted in rows along both sides of the road between villages, so that anyone passing by knows the temple is about to hold a poy luang.
The processions also carry cho (ชํอฯ), triangular flags; a large one used to lead a procession is called cho chang (ชํอฯช้างฯ), or tung chai.
The great drum, the fingernail dance and Upagupta
The klong luang (กลฯอฯงหลฯวฯง, Kham Mueang reading kong luang), the "great drum", is described in the dictionary as a large, long, single-headed drum shaped like a round tube with a narrow waist and covered with cowhide, "usually beaten in contests of loudness, called khaeng klong luang, and usually used to accompany dancing or the procession of offerings". The great drum of Wat Phra Phutthabat Tak Pha in Pa Sang District, Lamphun, is as long as 5.22 metres (information in the dictionary from Ajarn Wanlop Namwongphrom).
The Payap University Library (citing Sanan Thammathi (สนั่น ธรรมธิ), 2007) says the great drum was originally popular among the Tai Yong people on both banks of the Ping River in Lamphun and Chiang Mai. It is also called the klong ham man, the "drum that wards off Mara", because it was used at great merit-making events such as relic celebrations and poy luang, and people believed its sound helped to ward off Mara, that is, quarrels and fights at the festival. Great-drum contests stopped during the Second World War, and Phra Khru Weluwan Phithak of Wat Phra Phutthabat Tak Pha revived them around 1952.
Two groups of dancers
The fingernail dance (fon lep, ฟ้อฯรเลัปฯ) is, the dictionary explains, usually performed in the daytime and in the open air, "for example at celebrations of religious buildings or religious objects". The image at the top of this article shows the fingernail dance at the poy luang of Wat Rong Don Chai, Saraphi District, Chiang Mai, on 20 February 2010 (the 7th waxing day of the 4th northern month). The sign behind reads "Welcome, everyone, to the khuang kaeo tang sam".
The study by Wutthiphong Kham-on and colleagues (2025) found that in the procession of offerings at a poy luang there are two groups of dancers:
- The dancers of a hua wat, from a temple or village that has come to join the festival, who dance in front of their offerings as they enter the temple.
- The dancers of the host temple, who do not walk in the procession but wait at the temple gate to dance in welcome, showing that they acknowledge the visitors and join with them in making merit.
The same study found that the fingernail dance, the fon mueang and the dance of the procession of offerings are the same dance called by different names in different areas. In Phrae Province it is called fon klong uet, after the band that accompanies it. This matches the dictionary entry kong ae (กลฯอฯงแอวฯ), which records that in Phrae and Nan this drum ensemble is called "kong uet sueng".
Upagupta, protector of the festival
Phra Upakhut (ระฯพ³บบฯฯฅุต), Upagupta, is an arahant whom Lanna Buddhists believe still lives beneath the sea. The dictionary explains that "when there is a great event, such as the celebration of a permanent building (poy luang), he is usually invited up from the river to help protect the festival and keep the peace".
The book by Sanan Thammathi tells that villagers carry a stone from the river in procession to stand for Upagupta and enshrine it in the ho upakhut (Upagupta shrine) at the festival grounds, to keep Mara from spoiling the merit-making; that procession also often uses the great drum.
When is poy luang held?
How often: there is no fixed schedule. A poy luang is held only when a temple has finished a permanent building, so it happens only "once in many years".
The dry season is when villagers are free from work in the rice fields, so it suits a great merit-making event that needs the labour of the whole village. The festival goes on day and night, with folk entertainment such as so singing and likay theatre, and it is also a chance for young men and women from different villages to meet.
Kham Mueang for talking about poy luang
The Moradok Lanna dictionary has several example sentences that use the word poy luang, worth remembering to chat with people from the North.
| Lanna word | Lanna script | Meaning / example in the dictionary |
|---|---|---|
| bued bued | บึ้ดฯๆ | lots and lots, e.g. khon aeo poi luang bued bued: crowds of people at the festival |
| chim chi chim chit | จิมฯจิมฯจีดฯ | packed tight, e.g. khon aeo poi luang chim chi chim chit |
| chang | จางฯ | bland, no fun, e.g. poi luang chang: the festival is no fun |
| song tong | ซ้อฯงท้อฯง | used after "mong" (dull), e.g. poi luang mong song tong: the festival is no fun at all |
| khuang kaeo tang sam | ข่วฯงแก้วฯทังฯสามฯ | the vihara courtyard, the grounds inside a temple |
Summary
- Poy luang is the celebration of a permanent building in a temple, such as an ordination hall, a vihara or a chedi. It is held when the building is finished, and happens only once in many years.
- It is usually held over 2–3 days: wan da (preparation), wan kin (feasting relatives and friends) and wan tan (carrying the offerings into the temple).
- Khua tan are the offerings carried into the temple in procession; the heart of each is a spire of banknotes. Temples of the network (hua wat) come to hom poi, to join in the merit.
- Tung along the road announce that a temple is holding a poy luang, while the great drum, the fingernail dance and Upagupta make the festival lively and keep it peaceful.
Look up more Lanna words about merit-making in the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai), and read about the different kinds of tung in the article Yi Peng, Pi Mai and tung.
Sources
- The Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai): ปอยหลวง · ก๋องหลวง · หัววัด · ตานตุง
- สำนักหอสมุด มหาวิทยาลัยพายัพ. ประเพณีปอยหลวง [Payap University Library: The poy luang tradition]. ศูนย์สารสนเทศภาคเหนือ [Northern Thailand Information Center] (citing จักรพงษ์ คำบุญเรือง. (2019, 12 January). ประเพณี "ปอยหลวง" ล้านนา [The Lanna "poy luang" tradition]. Chiangmainews). In Thai.
- สำนักหอสมุด มหาวิทยาลัยพายัพ. กลองหลวง [Payap University Library: The great drum]. ศูนย์สารสนเทศภาคเหนือ [Northern Thailand Information Center] (citing สนั่น ธรรมธิ. (2007). นาฏดุริยการล้านนา [Lanna dance and music]. Center for the Promotion of Arts and Culture, Chiang Mai University). In Thai.
- วุฒิพงศ์ คำออน, สุรัตน์ จงดา และสุขสันติ แวงวรรณ [Wutthiphong Kham-on, Surat Chongda and Suksanti Waengwan]. (2025). ฟ้อนในขบวนแห่ครัวทาน [Dances in the procession of offerings]. วารสารวิพิธพัฒนศิลป์ สถาบันบัณฑิตพัฒนศิลป์ 5(1). In Thai.
