Between the living and the dead: Three-tail funeral banners of Northern Thailand

Abstract

Buddhist rituals and ceremonies in contemporary Northern Thailand are performed as a way to frame and manage the uncertainty and inevitability of death. In the first glimpses of a Northern Thai funeral ceremony, it is easy to conclude that the most important participants are the monks, the lay specialist, and the dead person's family, but a closer look will reveal the presence of a three-tail banner hanging at the feet of the deceased. Through its physical presence in the ceremony and its movement with the body from monastery to cremation ground, this funeral banner simultaneously serves as the embodiment of Buddhist principles, as a reminder that all living things will one day die, and as a vision of heavenly rebirth. By giving form to the immaterial, Buddhist funerary banners offer a visual and material experience as they embody the process of death and rebirth. In this essay, I examine the multivalent aspects of funerary banners, in particular their transformative and performative role in the funeral ceremony.