Buddhist Lent End & Racing Boats ceremony
After performing the Buddhist lent for three months, in the rainy season starting from the 1st dark moon of the eight month to the 1st dark moon of the eleventh moon, the closing ceremony is organized. Firstly, the performance of Buddhist lent activities is the responsibilities of the monks, not for the lay people.
There after, the form of the ceremony changes as the villagers decide to prepare the offerings for merit making. So in the morning of the fifteen day of the eleventh month, the villagers take the offerings to the temples and listen to Buddha’s teaching while the candles ceremony, light worshiping, and fire boat festivities are performed in the evening. In the next day, 1st dark moon of the eleven month, boat racing is organized on the Mekong river.
The Buddhist Lent closing ceremony is performed in the same way as the beginning of Buddhist Lent, Boun Hokaopradabdine and Boun khao Sark or Salark. At the festival day Buddhist villagers, dressed in new and beautiful clothes take the silver bowls or plateful of food and materials to offer the monks for merit making.
How to Organize the Ceremony
The term “Watsa” means the rain or rainy season. The monks complete the practices of Buddha teachings during the period of three months in the rainy season without spending any nights in other places. On the 1st day of the dark moon of the eleventh month the closing ceremony for Buddhist Lent hold be arranged. But, in practice, it is organized in the full moon of the fifteen in the eleventh month, one day before the due date. In the Buddha’s teaching, the closing ceremony for Buddhist Lent was not decided, but Pavalana, prior notice ceremony was instead made after three months of Buddhist lent ended. So, in practice the monks made Pavalana on the evening of the full moon of the fifteen in the eleven month. It is one day before the real closing date.
Illuminate Ceremony
Briefly describing on illuminate ceremony is the custom of Brahmanism to worship the gods whose names are: the God of Pha Phom (Brahman), the God of Pha luxuan and the God of Pha Nalai (Vishnu), illuminate boats made of bamboo trunks. The oil for the lights screened from the cow fats. After the lamp making the lamp, it was fixed on the top of the pole which is about of 10 Wa high, each unit of Wa length equivalent to 2 m (about 20 m) from the ground of ground of worship the three gods above. It is organized in the twelve month. After the worshipping period is over, the lamps are sent along the rivers.
Lao illuminate ceremony begins in the full moon of the 14 or 15 to the 1st day of the dark moon in the eleventh month. They made the fire place in the yard of pagoda. The oil for fire are from the oily fruits namely: Maktumka and fix the cotton coils for the fire lights.
The worship place for perfume sticks light is called Vongkotkhili which means the mountain. Acc. With the story of Vetsantala, it was the place where Phravet lived. To perform the light perfume sticks ceremony, some pagodas make camps with many complicated.