2. Geography A landlocked nation in Southeast Asia occupying
the northwest portion of the Indochinese peninsula, Laos is
surrounded by China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thai land, and Burma. It is
twice the size of Pennsylvania. Laos is a mountainous country,
especially in the north, where peaks rise above 9,000 ft (2,800 m).
Dense forests cover the northern and eastern areas. The Mekong
River, which forms the boundary with Burma and Thailand, flows
through the country for 932 mi (1,500 km) of its course.
3. Culture Laos has at least 49 ethnic groups and each of them
preserves their own dialect, customs, culture and tradition.
However, because over half the population are ethnic Lao
(previously called Lao Loum) this is obviously the most dominant
group in Laos and the one that most people encounter as the Laos
culture. The rich culture of Laos is rooted in immense
spirituality, as the predominant religion of Theravada Buddhism has
influences extending from lifestyle to art and architecture. This
is encountered in ceremonies like the baci or Sou Khoun(a ceremony
to enrich the spirit) and the common practice of alms giving every
morning at sunrise.
4. Most villages have at least one temple. These temples are
not only places for monks to live and pray, they are also the main
centre for social and recreational activities such as village
meetings, religious ceremonies and festivals. In urban areas,
temples sometimes serve as shelters for homeless and disadvantaged
people. Sometimes when someone dies in an accident or outside their
houses the body will be Golden Temple, Vientiane, Laos taken to the
temple and kept there for a few days for religious ceremonies
before it is cremated.
5. Architecture Lao architecture is mainly a mix of French
colonial, Buddhist (in temples), traditional Lao and modern
architecture, with some influences from Thailand and other
countries. In rural areas most Lao people live in Lao traditional
houses, built of wood and raised off the ground on stilts, but in
urban areas modern style houses are more common and Lao traditional
houses are slowly disappearing. Many ethnic groups have their own
house styles, such as the Hmong, Iu Mien, and some other ethnic
groups in the northern mountainous areas, where the weather is cold
and windy in cold season. These groups build houses on the ground
with the end of the roof almost touching the ground.
6. Religion Buddhism first appeared in Laos during the eighth
century A.D., as shown by both the Buddha image and the stone
inscription found at Ban Talat near Vientiane, now exhibited at Hor
Pra keo Museum. After the foundation of the unified Kingdom of Lane
Xang, King Fa Ngum (14th Century) declared Buddhism as the state
religion and urged the people to abandon Animism or other beliefs
such as the Cult of Spirits. His policy meant to develop the Lao
culture based on a common faith: Theravada Buddhism. Today,
Theravada Buddhism is the professed religion of about 90% of Lao
people. Buddhism is an inherent feature of daily life and casts a
strong influence on Lao society. Lao woman can be seen each morning
giving alms to monks, earning merit to lessen the number of their
rebirths. It is expected that every Lao man will become a monk for
at least a short time in his life. Traditionally, men spent three
months during the rainy season in a Wat (Buddhist temple). Today,
however; most men curtail their stay to one or two weeks.
7. Lifestyle Lao people typically socialise as families, and
most live in extended families with three or sometimes more
generations sharing one house or compound. The family cooks and
eats together sitting on the floor with sticky rice and dishes
shared by all. Sometimes when someone pays a visit unexpectedly at
meal time we automatically invite them to join us without any
hesitation. With the Lao peoples simple life, it is perfectly
normal for relatives or friends to drop by without calling in
advance. So, if you live or work in Laos, dont be surprised if your
Lao friends suddenly appear at your front door. If they do that,
its not because they are tactless, its because it seems perfectly
usual behaviour for them, and also perhaps because they dont know
or understand your cultural habits. Time is also a fairly flexible
commodity in Laos culture. Planning ahead and making firm times for
occasions can sometimes be frustrating for foreigners who find the
idea of something happening at maybe two oclock difficult to cope
with. Also invitations to parties and weddings are often only
issued the day before the event and the host is sometimes surprised
that others need more notice that this in their social lives.
8. The fact that most Lao people were brought up in extended
families that required a high level of harmony, kindness, patience
and readiness to help each other has made the Lao a generous, kind
and soft hearted, tolerant and socialized people. Lao people tend
to value privacy less highly than foreigners, partly because its a
normal way of life in extended families, especially in the
countryside where everyone knows everyone elses business. Sometimes
for those foreigners living here this can be a surprise, especially
with what they might find are slightly personal questions and the
fact everyone in their village knows all about their lives.
9. Wedding / Marriage In Laos culture, before a Lao wedding
takes place, (after the proposal) a traditional procession call Sou
Khor is arranged (an envoy of the boy sent to the girl to ask if
her parents will allow the marriage). If her parents agree to let
their daughter to marry the boy, a Kha Dong (bride-price) is
negotiated as well as who pays for what at the wedding. This is
usually the groom, but today often both parties share the expenses.
The Sou Khor session takes place several days or even months before
the wedding. Visit Laos Wedding page for more info. Once married,
the couple lives with the parents of the bride until after the
marriage of the next daughter (if any) or in some cases they move
out earlier but the earliest is seven days after their
wedding.
10. When the couple has children, the stay-at-home parents or
grandparents usually help raise their grandchildren before they
reach school age. Grown-up children usually also live in until they
get married and sometimes even until after they have their own
children so that the grandparents can help raise them or sometimes
until they save enough money to build their own house. However, one
of the children (usually the youngest daughter in big families)
lives with the parents, inherits the main house, and takes the
responsibility of taking care of aging parents. The moved-out
children support their parents by sending money back if they live
far away, otherwise they come to visit and eat together as a family
very often. In Laos there is no social security or other welfare,
such as homes for the elderly provided by the government. However,
as our family bonds are strong and everyone in the family helps
everyone out it is an important part of our culture to take care of
our aging parents and grandparents. This might change in the future
because the Lao simple life is slowly being replaced by modern
lifestyles and the extended families are gradually being replaced
by nuclear ones as people have fewer children these days.
11. ARTS AND LITERATURE Laos has a long tradition of oral
literature, including folk tales, children's stories, proverbs,
parables and poems. Talented narrators can recite lengthy poems,
some as much as six hours long, entirely from memory. Lam or khap
is love poetry set to music, performed as a solo or in duets. Some
songs go on all night and sessions have been known to last for up
to 72 hours. Contests for spontaneous poems and songs are also
popular.
12. There are three masterpieces of Laotian literature: the
Vetsantrasadok, the Sin Say, and the Thao Hung. The Vetsantrasadok
is the most popular and deals with the life of Buddha before his
enlightenment. Education through reincarnation is the theme of the
story. The poet Phangkham wrote Sin Say. Sin Say, the hero, was
born holding a bow and arrows in his hand. His brother, Sang Thong,
was a golden snail, and his half-brother was an elephant with
golden tusks. The story tells how the ogre Nhak Koumphan stole the
brothers' aunt and how the brothers defeated the ogre and rescued
their aunt. Thao Hung is a historical epic. Its hero belongs to the
Mon-Khmer ethnic group. It recounts the struggle between ancient
ruling families in Indochina.
13. The Dhammapada is an important book in Buddhist literature.
It contains 423 verses spoken by the Buddha on various occasions.
For example, "Mind is the most important thing. It is the source of
all actions. If we act or speak with an impure mind, we suffer. But
if we act or speak with a clean mind, then we shall be happy." The
Dhammapada was originally written in Pali, a language that closely
resembles Sanskrit.
14. Laotian folk music is not written down but is played from
memory. Musical instruments include the khen (a bamboo flute),
buffalo horns, tam tam drums, xylophone and a two-string violin.
Maw lam, or Laotian theatre, is part of many Laotian festivals. It
may be a rehearsed production complete with costumes, or an
informal, improvised dialogue between two players. Taos has a rich
architectural heritage. One of its most famous buildings is the
Great Stupa in Vientiane, which is considered a symbol of the
country. The temples at Luang Prabang, the former capital, have
been designated a World Heritage Site. They have graceful roofs
that sweep down close to the ground.
15. Traditional Laotian handicrafts include weaving and
carving. Women weave colourful cloth of cotton or silk that is worn
as a long, wrap-around skirt. The intricate patterns may include
gold or silver thread. The patterns depict river dragons, flowing
water or a mythical creature that is partlion, part-elephant. Men
carve in wood or bone. Some carvings have religious significance,
others portray scenes from everyday life.
16. Lao artisans have, throughout the past, used a variety of
media in their sculptural creations. Of the metals, bronze is
probably the most common, but gold and silver images also exist.
Typically, the precious metals are used only for smaller objects,
but some large images have been cast in gold, most notably the Phra
Say of the sixteenth century, which the Siamese carried home as
booty in the late eighteenth century. It is in enshrined at Wat Po
Chai in Nongkhai, Thailand, just across the Mekong River from
Vientiane. The Phra Say's two companion images, the Phra Seum and
Phra Souk, are also in Thailand. One is in Bangkok and the other is
in Lopburi. Perhaps the most famous sculpture in Laos, the Phra
Bang, is also cast in gold, but the craftsmanship is held to be of
Sinhalese, rather than Lao, origin. Tradition maintains that relics
of the Buddha are contained in the image.
17. Arts and Culture One of the trademarks of Laos is the
diversity of its people and cultures. There are a number of
traditional arts and crafts that represent their way of life. Lao
has a rich cultural heritage with religious art and architecture
forming the cornerstone of artistic traditions. There exists across
the country a plethora of distinctive monuments and architectural
styles. One of the most notable structures is the That Luang, the
great Sacred Stupa, in Vientiane. Its dome-like stupa and
fourcornered superstructure is the model for similar monuments
across Laos. Stupas serve to commemorate the life of the Buddha and
many stupas are said to house sacred Buddha relics (parts of Buddha
s body).
18. Generally, Hinayana Buddhists cremate the dead body and
then place the bones in the stupa, which are set around the grounds
of temples, or wats. Different styles of architecture are evident
in the numerous Buddhist Wats. Three architectural styles can be
distinguished, corresponding to the geographical location of the
temples and monasteries. Wats built in Vientiane are large
rectangular structures constructed of brick and covered with stucco
and high-peaked roofs. In Luang Prabang the roofs sweep very low
and, unlike in Vientiane, almost reach the ground. These two styles
are different from the wats of Xieng Khouang where the temple roofs
are not tiered Lao religious images and art is also distinctive and
sets Laos apart from its neighbors.
19. The Calling for Rain posture of Buddha images in Lao, for
example, which depicts the Buddha standing with his hands held
rigidly at his side, fingers pointing to the ground, cannot be
found in other Southeast Asian Buddhist art traditions. Religious
influences are also pervasive in classical Lao literature,
especially in the Pha Lak, Pha Lam, the Lao version of India's epic
Ramayana Projects are underway to preserve classic Lao religious
scripts, which were transcribed onto palm leaf manuscripts hundreds
of years ago and stored in wats. Another excellent example of the
richness of Lao culture is in its folk music, which is extremely
popular with the people throughout the whole country. The principle
instrument is the Khaen; a wind instrument, which comprises a
double row of bamboo-like reeds, fitted in a hardwood sound box.
The khaen is often accompanied by a bowed string instrument or Saw.
The national folk dance is the Lamvong, a circle dance in which
people dance circles around each other so that ultimately there are
three circles: a circle danced by the individual, another one by
the couple, and a third one danced by the whole party.
20. Most Popular Tourist Spots The temple was built in 1565 as
a royal chapel and repository for the celebrated statue of the
Emerald Buddha, which the Laotians had taken from Northern Thailand
in 1551. The jasper statue remained in the temple until 1778, when
the Thais invaded and recaptured the statue, taking it off to
Bangkok (Wat Phra Kaeo). The temple was destroyed in 1828-1829
during the Thai sack of Vientiane; rebuilt in 1936; and restored
again in 1993. Ho Phra Keo was called "Wat Phra Keo" ("Temple of
the Emerald Buddha") during the time that the statue was in
residence there. It is now called "Ho Phra Keo" ("Altar of the
Emerald Buddha") because only an altar is there, the image still
remaining in Thailand. Ho Phra Keo Vientiane, Laos 20th century
restoration of 1565 original
21. Crossing the Mekong river near Champasak, one sees the
mountain called "Lingaparvata," so named because the natural
formation (top of mountain, center of photo) seems to resemble
Shiva's linga. To many visitors, it even more closely resembles a
female breast. Wat Phu nestles at the base of this mountain, which
has been a sacred site from at least the 5th century A.D., being
associated with the early kings of Chenla. "Parvata" means
"mountain," so "Lingaparvata" is literally "Linga Mountain." It is
the same word-root as "Parvati," the name of Shiva's consort, a
mountain-goddess. Lingaparvata Champasak, Laos
22. This early-nineteenth century temple, the oldest remaining
in Vientiane after the Thais sacked the city in 1828-1829, shelters
a substantial collection of 18c-and-earlier Buddha statues (next
pages).
23. Legendarily considered an Ashokan foundation, the site was
determined by archaeologists to date originally back to Khmer times
(11th-13th century). The stupa, seen here, was built in 1566 during
the reign of King Setthathirat, destroyed in the 1828-1829 sack of
Vientiane, and rebuilt in the 1930s.