I’ve always found large gatherings of people or any so-called mass consciousness rather disturbing to be around. The herd instinct if you like. It is even more unsettling when it is a religious event.

On Sunday I went to photograph the final day of a series of large scale alms giving ceremonies that have been carried out around Thailand to celebrate the 2,600th anniversary of the Lord Buddha’s enlightenment. Each event has seen 30,000 monks (one million in all) and thousands of followers gather for prayers. Much of the food collected has also been donated to Buddhists in the south, an area experiencing increasingly violent separatist unrest by Muslims. The final gathering was held near Wongwian Yai in Bangkok.

Although you cannot deny the visual impact of the gathering (as a photographer that is of course why I was there, I found the whole thing distinctly creepy. The fact Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a Bangkok temple known for aggressive fundraising, was the main organiser didn’t help. Like all religions, the Buddhist institution is riddled with corruption and cultism.

The ceremony started at 6 a.m. and lasted just over two hours. Of course the prayers were interspersed with plenty of requests to part with your money. The underlying theme seemed to be ‘Practice non-attachment, particularly to your money, land and property – it’s ok, we’ll take care of it for you’. Alas, the call for money is all too frequently heard at Buddhist temples these days .

What Buddha would have thought of it, we can only guess.

The photo above shows some followers at the event being greeted by monks. The ladies were seemingly oblivious to the backdrop. The writing says ‘Nude Resort’.