This famous Thai festival, peculiar to Chiang Mai, is held for six full days from the waning of the moon during the sixth lunar month. It is held to celebrate and pay respect to the city pillar (the Inthakhin Pillar), which will hopefully bring rain and encourage prosperity for the city and its citizens.

The ancient Tai-Indic festival begins with a procession of the Phra Fon Saen Ha Buddha image around the streets of Chiang Mai. People from all walks of life come from all over the north to participate in this important ceremony that brings harmony, joy and wealth to Chiang Mai. They believe that a guardian spirit resides inside the image and that bathing the image with lustral water will encourage rain.

The procession will move from Tha Pae Gate to Wat Chedi Luang, where most of the activity takes place - especially in the evenings when crowds make offerings at the city pillar. On the last day of the festival the procession also parades around the four gates and corners of the old city wall encircling the Khu Muang or moat.

The festival should not be missed as it gives a deep insight into the blend of religion and animism that is so much a part of the northern Thai psyche.

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