Footage of a Buddhist ordination at Wat Thong Bon (วัดทองบน) in Bangkok. The ceremony, known in Thai as buat (บวช), is held to accept any male candidate, known as a buatnaag (บวชนาค), into the monkhood and is held upon entering a Buddhist temple, usually for an undefined period. It initiates the candidate's life as a Buddhist monk, or as a novice if the candidate is younger than the age of 20. Whereas adult monks are required to obtain 227 rules of conduct, called pahtimohk (ปาติโมกข์), novices need to keep only ten Buddhist precepts. Prior to the ceremony the novice or monk to-be has his hair and eyebrows shaved off, an act that will be repeated once every month during wan kohn (วันโกน), i.e. ‘shaving day’, for as long as one remains ordained and in Thailand traditionally on the day before wan phen (วันเพ็ญ), i.e. the day of the new moon or full moon. It is said that one reason for monks and novices to shave their heads bald is to resemble the features of a naga, a mythical serpent with the characteristics of a cobra and the guardian of the Buddha, Buddhist temples, and the earthly waters, and known in Thai as naag (นาค), a name also used for candidate Buddhist monks. The first time the hair is cut off ritually by close relatives of the person being ordained, starting with a small lock of hair each and finished off by shaving the head completely bald with a razor, a task usually done by a monk. During the procession towards the temple the candidate is not supposed to touch the ground, a symbolic reference to prince Siddhartha, the Buddha-to-be, who abandoned his secular life on a horseback, though exceptions are sometimes made, e.g. for older candidates, who may just walk or are driven. Upon arrival at the ordination hall, the candidate monk will pay his respects to the Buddha image and may together with close relatives perform a ritual known as prooythaan (โปรยทาน), literally ‘to scatter food’ and in a broader sense ‘to sprinkle alms’, i.e. throw around monetary gifts to the crowd of visitors. With this candidate, those consisted of coins wrapped in colourful lotus bud shaped packages called riyan prooythaan (เหรียญโปรยทาน). Whereas the discarding of money symbolizes his retreat from the material world, the lotus buds are a symbol of Enlightenment. In the ceremony, prior to the actual ordination, the candidate, wears a white gown called seua kruy (เสื้อครุย). This is exchanged for the monk's robe in the ceremony when the naag will receive the traijiewon (ไตรจีวร) or pahkahsahwapad (ผ้ากาสาวพัสตร์) from the abbot, and which also gives him the protection one enjoys as a monk. 回