Manora Ancestral Beings, Possession and Cosmic Rejuvenation in Southern Thailand: Modern Adaptations of the Multi-Religious Manora Ancestral Vow Ceremony
Alexander Horstmann, a Visiting Professor at the College of Religious Studies and Senior Advisor of the Multicultural Studies Program at Mahidol University in Thailand. Senior Research Partner at Max Planck Institute for Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Goettingen, Germany. After many years of studying dynamics of religion in Southern Thailand, he began in 2009 a research project on Karen religions and sacred spaces of Karen refugees that takes him to the refugee camps in North-western Thailand and to Karen state in Burma (Myanmar). Recent publications: “Sacred Networks and Struggles among the Karen Baptists across the Thailand-Burma Border.” Moussons 17 (2011); “Living Together” The Transformation of Mlti-Religious Coexistence in Southern Thailand.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 42 (2011).
摘要
The manora rongkru ceremony is a unique institution that has developed according to social needs of the people of the mixed community on the eastern banks of Lake Songkhla, where Buddhists and Muslims live together in closely-knit neighborhoods and kinship networks. People in southern Thailand feel that they are part of an imagined community, as they are all considered descendents of the first manora teachers. The article argues for the continuing relevance, relative autonomy and perceived authenticity of ancestor worship in Manooraa ritual practice and possession for the spiritual needs and aspirations of the Southern Thai people as major reason for the revitalization of the Manooraa in the context of modernity and Thai popular religion.
目次
Introduction 103 The Ancestral Vow Ceremony Manora Rongkru (Nora Rongkru) 104 The Local Context 107 Performing the Manora Rongkru Vow Ceremony in Ban Dhammakhot, Songkhla 108 The Spectacular Nora Rongkru in Memoriam of the Ancestral Teacher Si Sata in Wat Takae 110 A Hybrid Festival: Women Ordination as Nuns, Pilgrims Dancing With the Nora Mask at Wat Ta Kura, Satingphra, Songkhla 112 Conclusionary Remarks 113 References Cited 113
