Body Adornment and Modification Sak Yant - Thai Buddhist Tattooing

Once a year, thousands of tattoo enthusiasts from around the world descend on the temple known as Wat Bang Phra, located 50 km outside Bangkok, where dozens of heavily tattooed Buddhist monks are masters of the tattoo art. This Wat is also known as the Temple of the Flying Tiger.

Thai tattoos comes steeped in spiritual, or superstitious, meaning. Protection, Good luck Blessings from on high Protection These are what the tattoo devotees are seeking.

It’s a long tradition in Thailand for soldiers to take on these protective tattoos, called Sak Yant. The belief in their powers as charms is so great that it's commonly believed that the right tattoo by the best tattoo master can stop bullets.

Many arrive already heavily tattooed and are there to simply get their designs 'recharged', by having the Buddhist monks re-bless their body art.

It's not only the Buddhist designs that are potent, but the accompanying prayers. They're chanted by the monks as the nearly metre-long tattoo implements do their work. The fingers of one hand directs the needle, cradling the tip almost as if it were a pool cue, while the other hand drives the needle up and down.

The most popular Thai tattoos depict Buddhist deities or temples The most popular Thai tattoos depict Buddhist deities or temples. Often, the tattoo is not a recognizable image at all, but Thai script reproducing prayers.

The art of spiritual tattooing as practiced in Thailand is one that goes back to ancient times. Like the classical Japanese tattoo masters, the Thai monks undergo the long training necessary to find that mystical place inside them where they aren't distracted. Only in that state -- and working from that very still place -- can the tattooist orchestrate his mind, body into the necessary coordination to perform the tattoo miracle.