The Lao New Year called "Pee Mai" is celebrated every year mostly aroundApril 13 to April 16. 13 April is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ...

History

Pee Mai is the widely celebrated festival in Laos. New year was historically celebrated the first day of January but has since been changed to the middle of April as this is the hottest time of the year in Laos. When the origional Laos emigrated from southern China, new years traditions and the Indian calendar were recieved from the Khmer and Mon-Phama people. The Khmer people are the main ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for 90% of the 13 million people in the country. ...

New year traditions

The festival is celebrated for three days. The first of the three days is the last day of the old year.The first day is when houses and villages are properly cleaned. In addition the perfume, water and flowers are prepared for the Lao New Year. The second day is the day of no day which means that the second day doesn't fall in the old year or the new upcoming year. The last day of the festival marks the magnificent New Year. The New Year is usually celebrated during the full moon is out or close to it.

Water is used for the washing homes, Buddhist images, monks and soaking of friends and those passing by. First students respectfully water their elders, then monks for long living and peace and last of all they water each other. The water has perfume which comes from the flowers or the perfume of nature. While some prefer flowers in the water to give a pleasant smell along with cologne/perfume. As time progresses, cream has played another role in Lao New Year. The cream can be any kind of cream, shaving or whip. Powder has been a role in Lao New Year. The idea of watering came from the 7 daughters of a Lao King who cut his head in order to give sacrifice. The daughters would visit their father and water his head for respect.

Sand is brought to the temple grounds and is 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 going to the beach and making one while the other way is bringing the sand to the pagoda in order for the monks to give merits. Sand stupas are decorated with flags, flowers, white line and splashed with perfumed water. Sand stupas symbolizes the mountain, Phoukaokailat, where Kabinlaphom head was kept for his seven daughters for worshipping.

Animals are set free during this time.They 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. There is a fresh flower collection in the afternoons. The head monks take the younger monks to a place filled with aboundful flowers where they would pick and bring back to the pagoda to wash. For people who didn't participate in the flower picking, they brought wash baskets to wash the flowers so the flowers can shine with the Buddha statues.

There is an annual pageant in Luang Prabang crowning Miss Pee Mai Lao. There are many pageants in Laos but Luang Prabang, the old capital, is widely known for its Nangsoukhane pageant. There are seven contestants whom symoblize the seven daughters of the king who cut his head.

Nights during Lao new year include traditional music (mor-lam) and circle dancing (ram-wong). Usually during the daytime, you would find almost everybody in the temple worshipping for the New Year hoping to have a healthier and happier life. And during the evening, youngs, old and all ages go to pagodas for entertainment.

So if you go to Laos during this time around, you better watch out. Laotions are the friendly folks who doesn't mean harm to anybody. If you drive out or walk on the streets they will squirt you with water. Don't fret, they mean no harm. Not only do they wish for themselves to have a long living healthy life they also wish you the same. But there are minor accidents during this time of the year. So be caution of where you walk or drive. The roads can get pretty slippery.

External links

• http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.1405.html
• http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/hamilton/projects/laos/laosny.htm
• http://www.muonglao.com/laonewyear.html
• http://www.laoembassy.com/news/brieflao.htm