In San Kamphaeng (สันกำแพง), a district located just to the east of the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่), is the village of Bo Sang (บ่อสร้าง), whose name translates the ‘Pond of Creation’. This village in the subdistrict of Ton Pao (ต้นเปา) is famous for the production of hand-made bamboo umbrellas and parasols, a long-standing tradition of this community proud of its heritage. The area's slogan is Bo Sang Kahng Jong (บ่อสร้างกางจ้อง), which is northern dialect for Bo Sang Kahng Rom (บ่อสร้างกางร่ม) in common Thai language, and translates ‘Bo Sang Opens/Raises [the] Umbrella(s)’. Most if not all shops and houses that line the main street in this village are decorated with open umbrellas in a variety of colors and designs, showing off its heritage. Besides the umbrellas and parasols, the villagers also produce long Lan Na (ล้านนา)-style ceremonial banners made of cloth and known as tung (ตุง), and northern-style paper lanterns called kohm kwaen (โคมแขวน), both of which are also found abundantly raised on the houses as decoration alongside the umbrellas and parasols. In the Orient, umbrellas are believed to have originated in ancient China, probably as long ago as 2,500 years, and were initially designed to be mounted on carts and chariots. In Chinese, umbrellas and parasols are both known as san (伞), though the parasol can be specified by referring to it as yangsan (阳伞), which could be translated as ‘sun umbrella’, i.e. a ‘parasol’. In Thai, the word rom (ร่ม) is used, which also means ‘shade’, i.e. a sunshade or parasol, yet special umbrellas and parasols for royalty and priests are referred to as klot (กลด), whereas multi-layered umbrellas held over honorary figures are called chat (ฉัตร), from the Sanskrit chattra (छत्त्र). In northern Thailand rom thong (ร่มทอง), i.e. ‘golden parasols’, are very popular, used both as decorative items and as symbols in Lan Na-style festivals. Though also cotton is becoming increasingly popular, in Thailand and Myanmar parasols are traditionally produced on a skeleton made of bamboo and wood, and with a screen made from either kradaat sah (กระดาษสา), i.e. paper made from bark of the paper mulberry tree, or from silk. Traditionally, they are usually painted, frequently with elaborate designs, especially when made in Bo Sang. In Buddhism, the parasol is one of the Ashtamangala (अष्टमंगल), i.e. the eight auspicious symbols, as well as one of the eight borikaan (บริขาร), i.e. the permitted possessions of Buddhist monks. In Thailand, the Burmese monk Shin Thiwali is referred to as Phra Siwalih (พระสิวลี) and is typically depicted carrying a closed klot, a monk's umbrella, over his shoulder, whilst U Shwe Yo, a Burmese comical character, is usually depicted holding a small hand-painted parasol called Pathein. Besides this, certain Buddhist offerings in Myanmar and northern Thailand use miniature paper parasols called hti, and in both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the ferocious goddess Ushnisha Sitatapatra (उष्णीष सितातपत्र/सितातपतत्रा) has a white umbrella, known in Sanskrit as Sitatapatra (सितातपत्र/सितातपतत्रा), as her attribute. Bo Sang allegedly owes its umbrella making heritage to a local monk identified only as Phra Inthaa (พระอินถา), who according to an inscription on his statue in the garden of the Umbrella Making Centre in Bo Sang, lived ‘hundreds of years ago’. According to folklore, this monk went on a thudong (ธุดงค์), i.e. a special journey by Buddhist clergymen that may include a kind of walking meditation, to Burma. There, he was given a hand-made paper umbrella to protect him from the sun. When he consequently visited the village where the umbrella was made, he realized that Bo Sang had access to the bamboo and other materials required to make such umbrellas and he soon realized that this could provide a way for farmers in his home village to supplement their income. Hence, he carefully educated himself about the techniques and skills required to make such umbrellas and upon his return passed this knowledge on to the local people. 回