Monkeys are one of the animals who have a long-standing relationship with humans. In India, monkeys can be found across cities, they are fed by throngs of people in monuments and religious places. But in one Southeast Asian city, the monkeys get to feast on a culinary spread made exclusively for them.
The city of Lopburi is known as the city of monkeys because of its special relationship with the animal. Every year, a Monkey Feast Festival is celebrated in this Thailand province and the monkeys of the city converse on the Sunday of the festival for a spectacular dining scene.
The city lies 150 kilometres to the north of Thai capital Bangkok. The province symbol is also a monkey. The city lined up rows of fake monkeys, statues that are holding trays, outside the Ancient Three Pagodas compound. The fake monkeys then serve the food prepared by many volunteers to the real macaque monkeys.
Soon, hordes of monkeys converge on the feast and gorge, squabbling with each other at times. Crowds made up of locals and visiting tourists watch on as the spectacle unfolds. However, the festival is not just about feeding monkeys but promoting the city’s tourism.
“This monkey feast festival is a successful event that helps promote Lopburi's tourism among international tourists every year,” said festival's founder Yongyuth Kitwatanusont.
“Previously, there were around 300 monkeys in Lopburi before increasing to nearly 4,000 nowadays. But Lopburi is known as a monkey city, which means monkeys and people can live in harmony,” he added.
The town celebrates the festival annually as a mark of gratitude towards the monkeys that bring in tourism which provides many in Lopburi their livelihood.
The fake monkeys with trays were a new addition in 2022 as the organisers saw that the attendance of monkeys had dropped last year due to a surge in tourism. Hence, the theme this year was “monkeys feeding monkeys”.
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(With inputs from PTI, AP)
