TEMPLES AND DONATIONS

When living in Thailand it cannot be avoided visiting the many beautiful temples and also it is inescapable in the mornings to see the monks on the streets collection food from persons, who in return get blessed. Being married to a Thai the very pragmatic religion (pragmatism is the trademark of the Buddhism) slowly gets to you and at the same time, as you get familiar with the many rituals in the temples plus the numerous daily experiences with the many faces of the religion, one starts to ask a few questions, an important one being, what happens to all the donations the temples receive? How do the temples work and how are they administered? Nitta and I have seen many temples all over Thailand and they vary greatly in size, decorations and standard of maintenance.