My visit to Wat Thai was hampered by the cold rain and wind we were experiencing that weekend, the rain was fitting with one of the themes of water as cleansing and blessing for Songkran, but not the cold. Songkran is the Thai New Year, and in Thailand it has become a reason to have a raucous water fight in the streets, including elephants that hose down the festival goers. That wasn’t going to happen in North Hollywood, but there were some beautiful performances, albeit in a cramped little hall instead of on the large outdoor stage that was set up and unused due to the bad weather. All of my photos from the day were taken outdoors in between periods of rain. The temple grounds were bought in 1970 and the temple consecrated and its doors opened to the community in 1972 and has seen its membership grow with Los Angeles.
Timothy Dahlum 