Traditional Hand Crafted Monk’s Alms Bowls - Ban Batt Community Bangkok Thailand 2023

On a narrow side street in Bangkok called Soi Ban Baat, just south of Wat Saket, the temple known as Golden Mountain, there is a small community of five families of artisans, popularly known as “Monk’s Alms Bowl Village.”

For centuries they have manufactured alms bowls used by monks to gather food offerings.

The families today say they have continued working “in the right place” and using almost the exact same methods as the previous generations, using only their hands and a hammer as tools.

The community gets to work as if it was an assembly line. Once a monk places an order there are eight different steps during the manufacturing process.

The process is not simple and it takes about five days to complete each alms bowl.

To manufacture the bowls, two strips of steel are welded in a cross representing the cardinal points. They are then attached to a ring to shape the structure. Gaps are filled with individual pieces of steel and hammered before applying the protective varnish or enamel.

Finding the neighborhood, on the corner of Bumrungmuang and Boriphat roads, is a little bit tricky but worth the search to see the craftsman in action.

It’s nice to see a bit of tradition still alive with the continued spread of the city. The tradition is slowly losing popularity as the younger generation is not learning the skill but maybe more visitors will stimulate more interest in the craft.

Enjoy the video!

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