Phuang malai

What it is

A typical malai is a ring of tightly packed jasmine buds with one or two hanging tails. Each tail ends in a tassel, often a rose, a marigold or a bud of champak. The single tailed form is the common offering, hung on a shrine or an image. A two tailed garland is draped over the joined hands or around the neck of a bride, a groom or an important visitor. Tiny versions are handed out as keepsakes at ceremonies. Large flat net patterns are made for temples and royal events.

How it is made

The maker threads buds one at a time onto a long, thin needle, turning each so that the buds lie in a spiral or in rows. When the needle is full the flowers are slid down onto cotton thread. Crown flowers are taken apart, and their waxy centres are strung like beads. Petals of rose or leaves may be folded into small points and stitched in layers. The work is fine and slow. It is taught in schools and colleges as one of the traditional Thai crafts.

Where it comes from

Fresh flower work was a skill of the women of the Siamese royal court, and many of the complex patterns were developed there in the nineteenth century. From the palace the craft spread to temples and then to the street. Today the centre of the trade is Pak Khlong Talat, the wholesale flower market of Bangkok, which is busiest at night. Vendors at road junctions sell garlands to drivers, who hang them in the car for protection and as an offering.

How to take part

1. Walk through Pak Khlong Talat in Bangkok in the evening to see garlands being strung.
2. Buy a small single tailed garland from a stall near any temple.
3. Offer it by laying it at the shrine or hanging it where others have, then put your palms together.

Good manners

• Do not smell a garland you are about to offer.
• If someone presents you with one, receive it with a wai, palms together and head slightly bowed.
• Do not put an offered garland on the floor or step over it.

The flowers

Phuang malaiThai floral garlands made for offerings, gifts, and ceremoniesArabian jasmineA small white jasmine with a strong, sweet scent, treasured in Asia for garlands and ceremoniesCrown flowerA tall shrub with waxy white or lavender flowers and milky sapRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursAztec marigoldThe golden-yellow flower of Mexican altars and Day of the Dead offeringsChampakA tall tree with fragrant yellow to orange flowers, prized in South and Southeast AsiaGlobe amaranthA round-flowered annual grown for its lasting, colorful blooms

Sources and further reading

• Phuang malai on Wikipedia