Saturday, March 3, 2012

Saturday Snapshot: March 3, 2012

Alyce of At Home with Books hosts Saturday Snapshot and asks participants to post any photo (just no random photos you found online)


Parade of Monks: Phnom Penh, Cambodia





While in Cambodia, I would see monks with these orange, yellow or maroon robes walking throughout the city and became obsessed with photographing them. There was something about their brightly colored robes against the background of the street that made a striking photo.

16 comments:

  1. I love the color of their robes and wonder how they manage to keep them from falling off.

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  2. I love the one with the umbrella. Great shot!

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  3. I love all of the symmetrical patterns of the architecture against the color ribbons and the monks' clothes!

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  4. Their robes are fantastic colors! I had no idea they wore such bright robes. A very cool photos, thank you!

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  5. Love all the colors, especially the orange!! Wonder if the robes colors or the red and blue of the flags have a specific meaning?
    MY SS

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    1. I know the blue and red in the flags are part of the Cambodian flag but I was never able to tell if the different color robes meant there were at different points in monkhood or different orders. I should try to find that out!

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    2. I was curious about color, too. This is what I found...

      "This finally brings me to color, back to the concept of kashaya – broken or variegated color – which probably was in a spectrum from yellow to a reddish brown from being washed and dyed with plant materials, sometimes saffron or tumeric. Because the materials and dyestuffs vary, colors are not consistent. They also fade and become soiled. According to Seung Sahn Sunim, the Korean Zen master, during the Buddha’s time, the monks wore yellow robes, because that was the color of the dirt and didn’t show soil when the wind was blowing.

      In modern times, monastics of the Theravadan tradition in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand or Laos usually continue this tradition of saffron or ochre robes. One source I encountered claimed that forest monks wear ochre while city monks wear saffron, but concluded that this is not always the case."

      Whatever the meaning or non-meaning, I love the photo!

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    3. Thanks for the research, Jill! It is interesting that there might be a difference between the colors of the robes for city and country monks!

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  6. What wonderful colors! I used to see monks occasionally when I was in San Francisco, and they always looked so bright in their robes. I imagine you can see far more in Cambodia!

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  7. They are striking coloured robes.

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  8. How very very cool. I love this picture.

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  9. I love the colors too. I could see why you kept photographing them.

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