Thread: Lopburi annual Monkey Banquet on November 25.

A man pose near monkeys that are enjoying various fruits at Lop Buri's Phra Prang Sam Yot on Tuesday, as part of a rehearsal for the annual Lopburi Monkey Banquet on November 25.

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From Wiki.

Lopburi (Thai: ลพบุรี(Pronunciation)) is the capital city of Lopburi Province in Thailand. It is located about 150 km north-east of Bangkok. As of 2006 it has a population of 26,500. The town (thesaban mueang) covers the whole tambon Tha Hin and parts of Thale Chup Son of Mueang Lopburi district, a total area of 6.85 km².

The city has a long history, dating back to the Dvaravati period more than 1000 years ago. It was originally known as Lavo or Lavapura, meaning "city of Lava" in reference to the ancient South Asian city of Lavapuri (present-day Lahore). Lopburi was under the rising Angkor regime and became one of the most important centers in the Chao Phraya Basin from then on. Lop Buri (Lavo) is described in Book III of Marco Polo’s Travels, where it is called Locach. This came from the Chinese (Cantonese) pronunciation of Lavo, “Lo-huk” (羅斛).[1]

After the foundation of Ayutthaya Kingdom in the fifteenth century, Lopburi was a stronghold of Ayutthaya's rulers.It later became a new royal capital during the reign of King Narai the Great of the Ayutthaya kingdom in the middle of the 17th century, The king stayed here for about eight months a year.

Today the city is most famous for the hundreds of Crab-Eating Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) that live in the middle of the city, especially around the Khmer temple, Prang Sam Yot, and a Khmer shrine, Sarn Phra Karn. They are fed by the local people, especially during the Monkey Festival in November. Because they are not afraid of humans, they steal whatever food they can find from unwary diners.

Prang Sam Yot, originally a Hindu shrine, has three prangs that represent Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva (the Hindu trinity). It was later converted to a Buddhist shrine.