Hor Rakhang
A Hor Rakhang (Thai: หอ ระฆัง ) is a bell tower in a wat , a Buddhist temple complex in Thailand .
The bell tower wakes the temple residents early in the morning and calls the monks together for worship and meals. He also proclaims noon, as monks are not allowed to eat solid foods after noon.
In contrast to western bells , which are waved back and forth so that the clapper strikes the bell wall inside to make it ring, a bell in Thailand is permanently hung. It is struck from the outside with a wooden club, first very slowly, then getting faster and faster. The sequence ends with one or two slow beats.
In a wat, neither the position of the bell towers nor their number is prescribed. For example, at Wat Pho in Bangkok there is a bell tower in the monks' quarters and two more in the actual temple district. The reason may be the sheer size of the entire complex.
Other designs of the Hor Rakhang:
- Drum tower: instead of the bell, there is a large Thai drum (see, for example, Wat Benchamabophit in Bangkok)
- Gong tower: at Wat Phrathat Hariphunchai, a gong about two meters in diameter is used instead of a bell.
literature
- Döhring, Karl ; Lohner, Henry; Buddhist temples in Thailand; Norderstedt 2014; ISBN 978-3-7357-3903-2 .
- Rita Ringgis: Thai Temples and Temple Murals . Oxford University Press 1990, ISBN 0-19-588933-9
- KI Matics: Introduction to the Thai Temple . White Lotus, Bangkok 1992, ISBN 974-8495-42-6
