Unusual: Thai people celebrated the New Year in a coffin

Celebrating the New Year in a coffin may seem strange, but this rite for believers symbolises death and rebirth, helping them to rid themselves of bad luck and be reborn for a fresh start in the new year.

While the rest of the world welcomed the New Year with fireworks and countdowns, a temple in the suburbs of BangkokWat Ta Khian witnessed a particular ritual.

Worshipers lay in coffins to participate in traditional funeral rituals.

It is, in fact, a Thai Buddhist ritual held throughout the year in Wat Ta Khian but is popular during the New Year period.

Video of the funeral ceremony

Get rid of bad luck and start afresh

Devotees believe that the ceremony symbolises death and rebirth, helping them to rid themselves of bad luck and be reborn for a fresh start in the new year.

Participants held flowers and incense in their hands while monks covered them with pink sheets and chanted prayers for the dead.

Phitsanu Kiengpradouk, a 67-year-old retired police officer, was ready to welcome the New Year with his own funeral.

"To lie in coffins means that we give up our sufferings, of our body and mind.

We come here in coffins for better luck and a better life," said Phitsanu.

Busaba Yookong, a 30-year-old woman who attended the ritual with her family, said that attending her own funeral was not as strange an experience as one might assume.

The Takien Temple has seen hundreds of worshippers gather there to take part in the Thai Buddhist ritual.

Address of Wat Ta Khian

If you want to try this temple or discover it:

Wat Ta Khian

4032 Rural Road Tambon Bang Khu Wiang, Amphoe Bang Kruai, Chang Wat Nonthaburi 11130, Thailand

Source: hindustantimes.com