Dynamism and Role of the Village Guardian Spirit Belief and Ritual in Ban Mai Lung Khon, Mae Sai District, Chiangrai Province

Abstract

This paper aims to study the dynamism and role of the village guardian spirit belief and ritual of the Tai Lue people in Ban Mai Lung Khon, Mae Sai District, Chiangrai Province. The research found that there are three important village guardian spirit rituals in this Tai Lue village: the annual worship of Chao Poh Kham Daeng; the Song Kroh Ban ritual; and Liang Mueang, village guardian spirit ritual. Although the three rituals reflect the transmission of Tai Lue belief in guardian spirits, the study found a certain dynamism in the belief and the rituals. Firstly, there was a physical dynamism in the changing of the location of the village guardian spirit shrine’s from the end of the village to the village center to provide for easier access for the people to the sacred space. Secondly, the name of the northern Thai city guardian spirit and the name of the Sip Song Panna city guardian spirit, Chao Poh Kham Daeng, was adopted to be the name of the Ban Mai Lung Khon village guardian spirit. Moreover, certain components of the ritual were changed to correspond with the change of the village’s social context. Overall, the analysis identifies the dynamism and role of the belief and ritual of the Tai Lue village guardian spirit in the new social context at Mae Sai, Chiangrai, Thailand, particularly the adoption of northern Thai beliefs as integrated with Tai Lue traditional beliefs.