Buddhists maintain age-old customs during Hor Khaosalak festival

Buddhists across the country dressed in their best clothes and carried baskets of food and other offerings to monks at their local temples on Saturday morning, in recognition of the annual Hor Khaosalak festival.
The word Boun means festival and Hor Khaosalak refers to the baskets of food and other offerings which monks share with each other.
This important occasion warrants the wearing of the smartest outfits, to show respect as people take their offerings to make merit and to revere their deceased ancestors and to monks, who receive the offerings on behalf of the deceased.

People enthusiastically buy baskets of food at a market to monks at their local temples. --Photo Sangkhomxay

At around 6am, people of all ages flock to their village temples to give alms and present baskets of offerings to monks.
The number of baskets is not limited and depends on how many the donor wishes to hand over. They contain vegetables, cooking ingredients such as salt, seasoning powder, fermented fish sauce, rice, dry or cooked meat and fish, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, and bottled water.
Fruit, sugarcane, canned fish, toiletries, milk, books, pens, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, candles, incense, flowers and sometimes cash may also be offered.
When delivering the baskets, villagers sit or kneel on the ground as they recite the scriptures, seek blessings from monks, and urge them to pray for their deceased relatives.
The events of Boun Hor Khaosalak have their roots in Lao history and are described in ancient manuscripts.
Legend has it that a woman named Ms Kounlathida took a giant (Yakkhiny) into her home but the giant was not comfortable there, so she suggested Yakkhiny live in the open fields. While there, the giant helped the villagers to take care of their farms and crops.
Later, the giant’s spirit was given the name Phi Tahaek and villagers began taking rice to monks eight times a day in order to earn merit. When people learned about the background to this custom, they initiated the Khaosalak festival as a longstanding tradition.
This is why villagers bring “khaosalak” to offer to monks and place rice wrappers in temples as a sign of respect for their deceased relatives.
The day before the festival this year, an elderly woman named Vongmath Phetboulom told me of the enthusiasm with which she has been assisting with Buddhist events at Sisaket temple in Vientiane – something she has been doing for almost 50 years.
The spirit of Phi Tahaek was still received from the villagers who owned rice fields after they made offerings to monks at temples, Ms Vongmath said.
“Farmers would take baskets of food to a small hut at the head or the end of their fields for the spirit of Tahaek, because they believed this spirit was the protector of their rice fields,” she explained.
Many people are happy to prepare baskets for presenting to monks because they would gain merit and dedicate offerings to the dead and my ancestors.
Before presenting these baskets to monks, donors write their own names and the names of the deceased on a paper and leave it inside the basket.
Some food baskets are made from bamboo by local people and others from plastic. However, now they’re easy to buy because vendors sell them and they put traditional and also modern items in the baskets.
On the 10th full moon of the lunar calendar each year, Buddhists across Laos recall this legend and celebrate their ancestors.
Monks organise a draw to determine which basket they will get. This custom is believed to have started in Lord Buddha’s lifetime when so many devotees wanted to present their food baskets to him alone because he was their leader, which meant his adherents got fewer baskets.
To resolve the issue, Buddha decided to share the baskets with his adherents by organising a draw, to ensure justice and the fair distribution of the baskets.
As part of the offerings prepared today, families traditionally make khaotom and khaonomnaep (sweetened rice wrapped in banana leaves).
As at other festivals, people take part in almsgiving in the early morning, present offerings throughout the day, listen to Buddhist recitations, and take part in a candlelight procession in the evening.
The Hor Khaosalak festival takes place two weeks after the Hor Khaopadapdin festival, so people have two opportunities to present offerings and make merit.
This year the Hor Khaosalak festival falls on September 10 and marks the countdown to the end of Buddhist Lent, which takes place a month later.
The end of Lent culminates in the Boun Okphansa festival, which is followed by the Boat Racing festival the next day, and is a time of fun and celebration eagerly anticipated by everyone across the country.

By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
(Latest Update September 12, 2022)