Today marks the third and final day of Lao New Year and the related festivities. According to the Xinhua News Agency:
Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year) is celebrated throughout the country each April in accordance with the Buddhist calendar, and is marked by visiting temples to make merit, feasting, drinking and soaking each other with water to wash away sins and cool off.
But I didn’t need to read that to know it’s true.
Tony and I flew back from Vietnam yesterday evening and emerged from the airport to all kinds of craziness. Here are some scenes from our taxi ride home. Needless to say, I kept the doors locked and the windows up!
This morning, my friend Carol and I walked around the corner to the neighborhood temple called Wat Watnak. We hoped to witness the local people washing the temple’s Buddha statues. Again, I’ll quote Xinhua:
The religious aspect of the festival is the washing away of wrongdoing and bad luck from the previous year to start the new year afresh. Homes, temples and Buddha images are washed with water filled with petals before laypeople and novices respectfully tip the scented water over monks to make merit and bless them for the coming year.
It all sounds so sacred and peaceful, right?
Colorful flags and banners hung from the archway over the temple’s entrance, where a group of monks stood to greet visitors. We approached a bit tentatively and barely had time to wish them “Sok dee Pii Mai” (Happy New Year) before they dumped buckets of water on us and sprayed us with a hose – easily the most exuberant water blessing I’ve ever received.
Carol’s turn!
Local residents paraded in to wash the Buddha statues and receive the water blessing. They all smiled and wished us a happy new year. I loved to see the children participating in this special ceremony. My favorite was this kid, who bathed the Buddhas with his water gun.
Families washing the Buddhas with water full of flower petals.
As temple-goers departed, they received raucous water blessings from the monks. Yes, that monk has strapped on a water-backpack Super Soaker.
The gang in the back of this pick-up called Carol and me over for a few extra “blessings” before they drove off.
Floral shirts, silver pots of perfumed water, marigold garlands, mounds of sand, wet hair and a general spirit of excitement can only mean one thing here in Vientiane: Pii Mai Lao!
Lao New Year takes places April 14-16, and the celebrations are just getting started. Friday was our last day of school before a two-week vacation, so we held a special Pii Mai assembly. First, children strung garlands of marigolds and frangipani, the Lao national flower. Primary and secondary kids worked together with the assistance of Lao staff members.
That’s Tony in the blue shirt helping them thread needles.
Then secondary students explained the legend behind some of the Pii Mai traditions, followed by a skit about the annual Miss Pii Mai contest and a water blessing ceremony.
The flower-clad crowd.
The Miss Pii Mai skit.
One of the “contestants” played this beautiful Lao xylophone.
The water blessing.
We sat in a row, and a group of students knelt in front of us, taking turns pouring perfumed water full of flower petals on our hands. We poured a little water back on their shoulders to return the blessing. Beautiful!
I was honored to be one of the teachers chosen for the blessing ceremony. My friend Eric and I commiserated about how we must be pretty special to get selected. Ha! Turns out they picked us to represent the departing staff. (Unfortunately I hadn’t told my students yet that Tony and I are moving to India, so some of the kids were quite confused and thought I was leaving that day.)
After the water blessing demonstration, classes met to bless their teachers. This is one of my favorite experiences of the school year in Laos. The children offer such heartfelt appreciation for their teachers. Very touching.
Water plays a big role in the Pii Mai holiday, so people inevitably get wet (whether they want to or not). In that spirit, our assembly wrapped up with water games on the soccer field.
Other random shots from the day…
Earlier in the day, the Early Years classes (3- and 4-years-old) had made these sand stupas.
Detail from the flower arrangement hanging over the entrance to the assembly.
Tony and me. Yes, he got a new shirt so we didn’t have to look like twinkies in orange again. (See last year’s blog post for a good laugh.)
Carol prepares for her advisory class blessings. (The secondary kids were not nearly as respectful and gentle with the water as the little kids were.)
Pa is a lovely guy who works in the PE department.
I don’t know this little girl, but she’s stinkin’ cute.
Nikki, Carol and me.
Want to know more?
The Lao American Coalition in San Diego has a nice website with a summary of the Pii Mai legend. My blog post from last year’s assembly also includes details about the Pii Mai traditions.
Pii Mai (Lao New Year) is next week, and Vientiane is getting ready. Today our school held an assembly to mark the occasion.
I had noticed Hawaiian luau-style shirts for sale all over town lately, and I just figured they were hot with the tourists. Fortunately, my Lao colleagues set me straight: Flowers play a major role in celebrating Pii Mai (pronounced Pee My), so floral tops are de rigeur.
While running some errands on my bike, I stopped at a roadside stand and bought one for about $3.50. The guy looked me over and recommended an XL, but I grabbed a bright orange man’s style in a size large. Later, Tony bought one for himself, but his blue-and-white shirt was a size medium. It was even too small for me! Why, oh why, won’t men try on clothes before buying them? But I digress … At school today, he traded with my friend, Whetu, whose shirt was too big, so he and I both ended up in orange as though we’d planned it.
How cute are we?
The floral shirts definitely brightened up the school today. I especially loved the little boys who wore matching flowery shorts.
Our assembly included explanations and dramatizations of the Pii Mai traditions, music, a demonstration of water blessings and finally a big circle dance (although the clueless falang turned it into more of a dreamy mosh pit).
Afterwards, classes met on the lawn, where students blessed their teachers and asked for forgiveness. Isn’t that a fantastic tradition? Children dipped a small cup into a large silver bowl to scoop out some water and flower petals. They poured a little water on their teacher’s hands or neck and said, “Sok dee pii mai!” (Happy New Year!) and offered other good wishes. The teacher then used his or her wet hands to sprinkle some water back on the student. Because I’m not a grade-level teacher, I didn’t have a designated spot, but many of my students called me over to receive their blessing. It was really beautiful. I expected the children to get wild and silly with the water, but they were shockingly respectful.
A few shots from the assembly:
Out on the grass, we all participated in the water blessings.
Here are some details about the Pii Mai holiday lifted from Wikipedia. According to our Lao staff, this is pretty accurate:
Water is used for washing homes, Buddha images, monks, and soaking friends and passers-by. Students first respectfully pour water on their elders, then monks for blessings of long life and peace, and last of all they throw water each other. The water is perfumed with flowers or natural perfumes. The idea of watering came from the legend of King Kabinlaphom, whose seven daughters kept his severed head in a cave. The daughters would visit their father’s head every year and perform a ritual to bring happiness and good weather.
Sand is brought to the temple grounds and is made into stupas or mounds, then decorated before being given to the monks as a way of making merit. There are two ways to make the sand stupas. One way is to go to the beach, and the other way is to bring sand to the wat, or pagoda. Sand stupas are decorated with flags, flowers, white lines, and splashed with perfumed water. Sand stupas symbolize the mountain, Phoukao Kailat, where King Kabinlaphom’s head was kept by his seven daughters.
Another way to make merit at this time is to set animals free. The Lao believe that even animals need to be free. The most commonly freed animals are tortoises, fish, crabs, birds, eels, and other small animals.
Flowers are gathered to decorate Buddha images. In the afternoons people collect fresh flowers. Senior monks take the younger monks to a garden filled with flowers, where they pick flowers and bring back to the wat to wash. People who didn’t participate in the flower picking bring baskets to wash the flowers so the flowers can shine with the Buddha statues.
There is an annual beauty pageant in Luang Prabang to crown Miss Bpee Mai Lao (Miss Lao New Year). There are many beauty pageants in Laos, but Luang Prabang – the old capital – is widely known for its Nangsoukhane pageant. There are seven contestants, each one symbolizing one of King Kabinlaphom’s seven daughters.
During Lao New Year, there are many spectacles including traditional Lao music, mor-lam, and ram-wong (circle dancing). During the daytime almost everybody is at the temple worshipping, hoping to have a healthier and happier life in the new year. During the evening, people of all ages go to the wat for entertainment.
