That Luang Festival
The That Luang Festival is an important Theravada Buddhist holiday for the Lao nation. The festival is held during the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, usually November, at That Luang (Phathat Luang) or the Great SacredStupa in Vientiane (pronounced Viangchan). The site of Phathat Luang is sacred, since the Lao believe the stupa enshrines a relic of Buddha. Both monks and laypeople from the various provinces of Laos congregate in the capital to celebrate the auspicious occasion with three days of religious ceremony followed by a week of festivities occurring twenty-four hours a day.
An elephant marches in the White Elephant Procession during the That Luang Festival in Vientiane, Laos. (NIK WHEELER/CORBIS)A procession of laypeople begins at Wat Si Muang in the city center to Phathat Luang to make offerings to the monks in order to accumulate merit for rebirth into a better life. The religious part concludes as laypeople, carrying incense and candles as offerings, circumambulate Phathat Luang three times in honor of Buddha, Dhamma (the Teachings of Buddha), and the Sangha (organization of Buddhist monks). Folk and popular music troupes and drama performances provide entertainment at the festival. Merrymakers can also buy goods and food at the fair.
Further Reading
Evans, Grant. (1998) The Politics of Ritual and Remembrance: Laos since 1975. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
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