Female Buddhist monks
Female Buddhist monks
Female Buddhist monks
Female Buddhist monks
Female Buddhist monks

Dozens of Thai women were ordained as Buddhist monks at a temple in Bangkok on Thursday (6 April), the latest ceremony in a tradition bucking the country's male-dominated Buddhist order. Getty Images photographer Roberto Schmidt has photographed Thai women as they approach their ordination, which includes a hair-cutting ceremony where the women have their heads and eyebrows shaved – a ritual preparation for their new future.

Female Buddhist monks
A woman bows to have her hair cut during a hair-cutting ceremony Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
A woman sits quietly while her head is shaved, during a ceremony that will see her become a female Buddhist monk Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
A Thai woman holds a lotus leaf holding her hair, during a ceremony that will see her be ordained as a female Buddhist monk Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
A woman has her eyebrows shaved and her hair shorn, during a ceremony that will see her become ordained as a female Buddhist monk Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Taking on the disciplined lifestyle is a subversive choice for Thai women, who were not allowed to be ordained as monks until fifteen years ago. Varanggana Vanavichayen was the first Thai woman to become ordained as a Buddhist monk in 2002. Since then, dozens of Thai women have followed suit and temples, monasteries and meditations centres led by Thai bhikkhunis (female monks) have emerged in areas such as Samut Sakhon, Chiang Mai and Rayong.

There are now over 100 female monks living in monasteries in Thailand, compared to an estimated 300,000 male monks. However, Thailand's two main Theravada Buddhist orders, the Mahanikaya and Dhammayutika Nikaya, have yet to officially accept fully ordained women into their ranks.

Female Buddhist monks
Thai women practice the order of a prayer they will perform during a ceremony that will see them be ordained Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
Thai women stand in line during the ceremony of their ordination at a Buddhist temple Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
Thai women hold incense sticks as they stand in line during an ordination ceremony Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
Thai women stand in front of their relatives near a Buddhist temple, during a ceremony that will see them be ordained as female Buddhist monks Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
Newly ordained female Buddhist monks pray inside a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
A newly ordained female Buddhist monks kneels in prayer at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
Newly ordained female Buddhist monks pray during their initiation ceremony at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
A woman kneels as she donates to a newly ordained female Buddhist monk at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok Roberto Schmidt/AFP
Female Buddhist monks
A newly ordained female Buddhist monk has her photograph taken with family and friends at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok Roberto Schmidt/AFP
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