Merit-Making for the 69th Birthday Anniversary of Phra Samut Wachirasophon Vi., Wat Chulamanee, B.E. 2568
Date
1 August 2025
A photo record of the merit-making ceremony for the 69th birthday anniversary of Phra Samut Wachirasophon Vi. (Luang Pho Itthi Bhaddacaro), advisor to the Ecclesiastical Region 15 and abbot of Wat Chulamanee — Friday 1 August B.E. 2568 (2025).
The merit-making ceremony for the 69th birthday anniversary of Phra Samut Wachirasophon Vi. (Luang Pho Itthi Bhaddacaro), abbot of Wat Chulamanee, was held on Friday 1 August B.E. 2568 (2025) at Wat Chulamanee, Bang Chang Subdistrict, Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province.
The commemorative ceremonial fans of the occasion and the cards accompanying the offerings of felicitation both bear the same wording: “อายุวัฒนมงคล ๖๙ ปี พระสมุทรวชิรโสภณ วิ. ที่ปรึกษาเจ้าคณะภาค ๑๕ เจ้าอาวาสวัดจุฬามณี จ.สมุทรสงคราม ๑ สิงหาคม ๒๕๖๘”.
This set records the day from the lighting of incense and candles at the offering table in the early morning, the hundreds of monks seated chanting blessings with the commemorative fans of the occasion, the almsgiving throughout the temple grounds, the presentation of flower baskets and vases of felicitation, the white-robed brahmins blowing the conch and beating the bandho drum before the ubosot, through to the release of fish at the canal.
Later in the morning the senior monks anointed one another's foreheads in blessing before processing into the ceremony; the commemorative fans were presented to each visiting senior monk in turn; felicitations were received from the monastic community, officials and lay devotees; the water of dedication was poured; and the day closed with the presentation of educational scholarships to schoolchildren.