Buddhist Nine Temples Tour in Laos
When I read Lao New Year at Wat Thong Phong part 1 about Darly’s “aunt Kian went to eight or nine temples,” and another post of Lao New Year at Wat Simoung, made me think of a Thai article in Kwanruen Thai Magazine about “Buddhist Nine Temples Tour in Laos (Wai Pra 9 Wat,)” which means that they go around to visit 9 Temples, Wai Pra 9 Wat, and I believed all in one day. There’s actually an article of this in every issues but in April 2008 issue, it was Wai Pra 9 Wat in Laos, so I believed aunt Kian must have gone to 9 Temples (Wat) as well, it’s for good luck, and a very busy day.
It is believed that if you Wien Tien (walk around) Pra Thatluang 1 time, then your life will be extended or you will live longer by 30 years, and of course, as for Wien Tien most people would walk around Pra Thatluang 3 times, can’t imagine what an extra 90 years old person would look like. If I’m there, I’ll just settle for 1 lapse around Pra Thatluang.
Another interesting story is the history of Wat Simoung, which I often thought it should be spelled as Wat Simeung (color of city.) At Wat Simeung, there are cemented giants, angels, and various Buddhist legendary statues for protection. According to the legend, in 1563 (Lao year: 2106) when Wat Simeung was built, there was a ceremony of digging a hole to place a pole (Lukk) as a center of the city (Meung) and invited anyone that would sacrifice his/her life by jumping into the ditch, and take an important role of becoming the guardian of the city, as a ghost that will guard the pole, no salary offered at the time.
Believe or not, the person who was braved enough to jump into the ditch was a lady by the name of Si (meaning color) and that is how Wat Simeung got its name. The history of Wat Simeung indicates the bravery of a Lao woman during that time, more so than Lao men in time of crisis. Of course this is just a legend, I’m wondering if there is another version of the history of Wat Simeung out there.
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It makes sense. Yes, aunt Kian went to all the temples (9) in one day which I thought was quite a task and I didn’t understand why at first. Wat Simoung is very sacred and many people from all over Laos would come there to make offering or pray for miracles. There are so many stories about the giants and different statues at the temple. I will have to ask aunt Kian for the history of the temple later.
So, if you Wien Tien once or more at Wat That Luang, then you’ll have a longer life? Let’s hope that is true since I used to live down the street from the temple and every year I was there to Wien Tien and even cleared the ground before the festival and after, helping Mair Khao collecting flowers and candles, sweeping the leaves and pretty much anything. My relatives in Laos said I have lot of boun but I don’t believe in such thing.
Is there a story about Wat Phou and how the pond or the lake would take one life per year and no more? I was told about the story a week ago.
Darly, from the article, it was so busy during Pee Mai (Lao New Year) that one could only spend about 15 minutes of worship at each Wat I would imagine, I’d think it’s very festive and how much fun your aunt Kian must have, I would love to do something like that. The funny thing about the article is that they were talking about the Fer (rice noodle dish), the bowl is so huge comparing to the one in Thailand, and I guess Lao people are not stingy, and it’s good to know because I love Fer, looking forward to eating many bowls of Fer there.
They were only talking about the Wat in Vientiane, so there is no history of Wat Phou, and I will try to find out for you, but might come back empty-handed.
Hey Ginger, about the story about the lady that sacrificed her life for the temple. Interestingly enough, I’ve read (I’ve forgot which book) about a pregnant woman that sacrifice her life to become a guardian for a certain temple or was it a kingdom. Any how I do recalled that the story revolves around Vinetiane. Cheers!
[...] but there are different versions out there, and the one known to the locals which was told to Darly is “a story about Wat Phou and how the pond or the lake would take one life per year and no [...]
Bassak, if the story revolves around Vientiane, there is a good chance that it’s the same story.