On Makha Bucha Day 2023, which falls on 6 March, the Kwan Phayao Waterway Festival will take place at 5:00 p.m. in the heart of Kwan Phayao, Phayao Province, in northern Thailand, at Wat Tilok Aram. This temple is notable for being submerged on an island in the lake, with only the upper part showing.

        “Wian thian” is the tradition of carrying candles and incense around a temple three times. What makes the ceremony special at Tilok Aram Temple is that worshippers have to circle the temple three times in boats. This tradition is carried out on the important Buddhist days: Makha Bucha Day, Visakha Bucha Day, and Asanha Bucha Day.

        In 1997, archaeologists from Chiang Mai uncovered the ruins of Wat Tilok Aram, which, according to a stone inscription, was constructed during the reign of King Tilokkarat of the Lanna Kingdom, which makes it more than 500 years old. It has been more than seven decades since the whole temple was last seen above Phayao Lake, because it was flooded when a dam was built in the 1930s, and now only its pagoda spire remains above water.

       If you happen to be in Phayao on one of the major Buddhist holy days, you can check out this other “unseen” Thai location. And you can participate in the world’s one and only ceremony that circles a submerged temple.