Poi-law Tradition of Phrakrugarunyathammaniwas (Laungpu Laung Katapunno)

Abstract

          This article aims to study the concept of funeral ceremony in Buddhism, Poi-law tradition in Lanna, and analyze the Poi-law tradition of Phrakrugarunyathammaniwas. This is a documentary and qualitative research which studies the primary sources, such as Tipitaka, commentary, and the secondary sources, such as academic articles, texts, especially resume and funeral memorial books of Phrakrugarunyathammaniwas. In addition, the data is collected from in-depth interview through structured and unstructured.

          The result is that the funeral ceremony in Buddhism is divided into two parts: 1) the Buddha’s lifetime; and 2) Thai society. In the Buddha’s lifetime, cremation and funeral were performed according to the status of the dead. In Thai society, it is almost the same with slightly difference in details depending on local tradition. Poi-law in Lanna is the funeral ceremony that has been arranged only for the senior monks and the highest royal family members. In the past the castle for keeping the dead was constructed on the back of Himavanta animals, which nowadays has been made on the back of Hasdilink bird. In Poi-law ceremony, the dead castle will be pulled out to the cremation ground. This ceremony is unique and has performed with a lot of rituals and regarded as the great merit–making tradition in Lanna. With regard to the value of Poi-law ceremony in Lanna, especially in case of Phrakrugarunyathammaniwas, it was found that the Poi-law ceremony brought about unity and sympathy among the community. Moreover, Phrakrugarunyathammaniwas’s Poi-law ceremony was considered to be the first of its kind in Lanna for monks in Dhammayuttika sect. It can be concluded that the Poi-law ceremony does not only demonstrate the virtues of the good monks, but also lead to the awareness of tradition and ceremony that are unique of Lanna so that they might be performed and preserved for new generation.