Her mother gasps and shudders at her daughter's disruption of the quiet setting. When the monks pass in front of her, the mother tells her daughter to place the gifts in the metal bowl and they both bow with their hands together. The aged monk smiles, nods his head and seems tickled that the young girl is learning what to do. After the offering, the monks leave to eat alone. An hour or so later, the shoes of those who have come to worship pile up at the temple doors.
Shoes are dirty.
The temple is pure. Everyone who enters kneels and bows three times to the Buddha altar, then three times to the six monks, who sit with their legs crossed on raised wooden dais. Nine chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Each is mounted in the center of nine round ornaments. About 70 people are on their knees listening to calls to worship in Thai.