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LAOS
ARTS AND CULTURE |
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Arts & culture |
Laos
religion |
Temples' rules
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
four-cornered 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).
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.
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.
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Source: Lao National Tourism Administration
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