Hor Khaopadapdin, a time to feed deceased ancestors and hungry spirits

When the Hor Khaopadapdin Festival comes around each year, Buddhists get busy preparing meals for their families and deceased ancestors to eat in the darkness of the early morning.
This festival, known locally as Boun Hor Khampadapdin, and also as the Day of the Dead, is a longstanding tradition which takes place annually on the 15th waning moon day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar, which occurs at the end of August, and this year falls on Friday.

Food parcels are placed around temples nationwide to feed the spirits.   --Photo Sisay

This is a time to remember the dead, not only one’s own deceased relatives, but also those spirits who have no family to remember and care for them.
The early hours of the morning, when it’s still dark, is believed to be the time when spirits are released and is recognised as the right time to feed them, as it is thought that spirits are allowed to go out only before sunrise.
The events of Boun Hor Khaopadapdin have their roots in Lao history and are described in ancient manuscripts.
Legend has it that a god named Thimphisan stole money from a temple, as well as food and other offerings given to monks. When he died, his spirit was sent to reside in hell for 5,000 years.
That is why, on the 15th day of the ninth lunar month of every year according to the lunar calendar, Lao people follow the traditions of Boun Hor Khaopadapdin, which have been preserved until today. The Hor Khaopadapdin Festival is a time for people to remember and show generosity to their relatives who have passed on to the next world. Those who remain on this earth think about whether their deceased relatives have been reborn in a good place or if they are suffering many hardships.
So when this time comes around, families make large pots of sticky rice mixed with coconut milk, then wrap the rice around a banana and enclose it in a banana leaf. These packages, called khao tom, meaning rice cakes, are steamed until cooked and then added to sweets and fruit and distributed it to them in order to be reborn in a good place, those who have fallen in any way ask to be freed from their tribulations, and those who are afflicted request to be delivered from suffering.
So far, Boun Hor Khaopadapdin is an important religious occasion, when Lao Buddhists like to preserve the tradition of giving offerings to monks and other people and dedicating merit to the spirits. “Boun” means to give merit, “hor” means to place food in packets, and “khaopadipdin” means placing them on the ground.
The day before food is offered, families prepare small, wrapped packets of food in banana leaves or plastic, such as sticky rice, fruit, salt, chillies, cigarettes, and maybe flowers, money, juice, candles and incense to give to their deceased ancestors and other hungry spirits in the morning.
In the village of Xiengda in Vientiane’s Xaysettha district, an elderly woman named Phoulom Saymongkhoune told Vientiane Times that it’s no easy matter to make these food packages because it takes time to make them carefully and neatly.
When the food is ready, families take them to village temples for a religious ritual before they are handed over to the spirits. Many people stay awake late into the night in order to serve the spirits on time.
This woman has been feeding her family members, deceased ancestors and abandoned spirits each year since she was a child, and she is now over 80.
“If food is not made by us for our deceased ancestors, they will not be satisfied. The spirits can appear only on this occasion and we have to be ready to appease and feed them,” she said.

People give alms on the morning of the festival. --Photo Sangthomxay	A family in Vientiane prepares food parcels on Thursday night.  --Photo Sangthomxay

She also said that spirits who don’t find any food will be very disappointed, and have to wait for food given to them by other spirits. In the worst case, they might get nothing and become sad and vengeful.
Many believe that it is the controlling forces of the underworld that free the spirits on this day, and that they travel to earth and search for the packets of food that their relatives have prepared for them.
Many people had a short night on Thursday as they were up early for the Hor Khaopadapdin Festival, rising before dawn to set out small trays of food in accessible places.

Packets of food are placed under a tree at a temple before sunrise, to feed deceased ancestors and hungry spirits.  --Photo Yee Sengdara

Boun Hor Khaopadapdin takes place in the middle of the rainy season, and Buddhist devotees flock to temples carrying silver trays of offerings for monks and deceased ancestors.
Most people wake up around 3am in order to catch the spirits before sunrise, going to their village temple to place specially prepared food on the ground, both inside and outside the temple. They also place food parcels at the foot of stupas, along riverbanks and under trees, or hang them up.
Packets of offerings are put in the corners of homes on the stairs, the spirit house, the rice storehouse, the cooking stove, on the gate, and on the roadside, so that the spirits can reach them.
Lao people nationwide enjoy the festival by making merit. Upon placing the food packets, candles and incense sticks are lit, and the spirits of relatives and ancestors are silently invited to eat the food in the darkness.
This is a festival that teaches people to make merit by giving offerings and reminding others to dedicate merit to their dead ancestors.
Like most festivals, this one starts with early morning almsgiving at around 7am, followed by the presentation of offerings to monks throughout the day, and candlelight processions in the evening. Merit is transferred to the dead by lighting candles and incense sticks and pouring water on the ground after giving offerings.
Lao people use this occasion to show love, respect and gratitude to their ancestors, and of course they might be rewarded for their good deeds and be blessed with a happy life and a bright future.

By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
(Latest Update August 29, 2022)