Lao New Year in April is the beginning of the Lao lunisolar calendar. It is the biggest yearly celebration of an astromical/astrological event in Laos and Lao communities around the world.
LAO TRADITIONAL CALENDAR
LAO TRADITIONAL CALENDAR
THREE LAO TRADITIONAL CALENDARS
There
are 3 types of Lao traditional calendar.
- (A) Calendar that starts in the 1st Lao lunar month
- (B) Calendar that starts mostly in the 5th Lao lunar month
- (C) Calendar that starts in the 6th Lao lunar month
Type A doesn’t have era and has been used
longer than other types. Our ancestor didn’t continuously number the
years. Most of the Lao people no longer
celebrate this new year which falls mostly in November. Only some minority Lao
and Dai groups still do.
Type B is for the Minor era. Its new year
currently falls in April. The celebration is the yearly biggest festival in
Laos and Lao communities around the world.
Vesakha (Vaiśākha) Puja commemorates the birth, enlightenment
(nirvana), and death (Parinirvana) of the Buddha. Buddhists believe that all three of these events took place on the
day in May when the moon is full. It is not one of the National Holidays in
Laos. The United Nations Day of Vesak was hardly mentioned in many Lao
communities..
FROM COOL AND DRY NEW
YEAR TO HOT AND HUMID NEW
YEAR
In
many cultures, the beginning of a year marks the declining of the dark period
of the year. The Chinese New Year is around February 5th, which is
the end of the darkest quarter of a year. The ancient Greeks celebrated their
new year at the winter solstice on December 21st. The Lao Lunar New
Year falls mostly in November, some years in early December, after the dark
days of the 4 months rainy season. November is the first month of the cool and
dry season.
Nowadays the people of Laos celebrate their New Year, which is based on ancient Indian sidereal Astrology, in mid-April. The Tai (Dai), Khmer, Thai, Sinhalese and Burmese also celebrate this tradition, but the dates might be slightly different.
Nowadays the people of Laos celebrate their New Year, which is based on ancient Indian sidereal Astrology, in mid-April. The Tai (Dai), Khmer, Thai, Sinhalese and Burmese also celebrate this tradition, but the dates might be slightly different.
WHAT IS SANGKHANT (saŋkʰǎːn)
ສັງຂານຕ໌?
The people of the two Lao-Tai ancient
kingdoms LaneXang and LanNa used the word Sangkhant (saŋkʰǎːn) ສັງຂານຕ໌.
The
Thai and Khmer use the words Songkrant and Maha Songkrant when they refer to
the New Year in April.
Some of the words that are associated with
this event derived from Pali, Sanskrit and Khmer. The transition of the sun
from one constellation to another one is called sankanta in Pali. Miss
Lao New Year is Nang (Miss) Sangkhant. She is the Queen or
Princess of Sangkhant which is the event.
Tai Lü in
Xishuangbanna of China, Tai Khun in Keng Tung of Myanmar
and Thai in Xiang Mai of Thailand still call the event as Sangkhant or Boon
Sangkhant as their ancestors did. The narrator of this video called the custom as "Paphaynii Sangkhant Piimie "
This event also has other names: Boon Hod
Näm (The Water Splashing Festival), Boon Deuan Hä (The Fifth Month Festival) and Boon
Pii Mie (The New Year Festival).
The latter has been the most common one.
For some of
the Thai words or syllables that have กร (Kr), similar Lao ones are spelled with ຂ (high tonal Kh).
Lao
|
Thai
|
Meaning
|
ຂອບ Khawb
|
กรอบ Krawb
|
Edge, border
|
ຂາບ Khäb (or Kharb)
|
กราบ Kräb (or Krarb)
|
To prostrate
|
ສັງຂານຕ໌ Sangkhänt
|
สงกรานต์ Songkränt
|
To pass over
|
Miss New Year in Thailand is Nang
or Thepi Songkrant. Thepi, which is Devi
in Pali, means a goddess or a queen.
FROM SANGKHANT (saŋkʰǎːn)
TO
SONGKAN
Most of languages change over time, but
some people might be interested in its history. The modern Lao grammar is less
than 100 years old. The government of the Lao PDR didn’t fund any Lao
dictionary printing for at least 35 years. There are plenty of Lao linguistics gurus
in Laos, but unstandardized spelling words and new vocabularies have rapidly overwhelmed the old ones.
Some
of the Lao New Year celebration organizers and Lao media believed the word
sangkhant, as in Nang Sangkhant, Sangkhant Louang (and Khuen), derived
from sankhara in Pali With that assumption in
mind they would think the word songkan, Lao version of songkrant, was more suitable to be the title of the event.
Lao Natural Astrology
The
ancient Kingdom of LaneXang had been invaded by neighboring kingdoms and many
times became a tribute state.
Most of its valuable assets including intellectual materials and scholars were
taken to the victorious kingdoms. During
the early 20th century, as a colony of France, the
Kingdom of Laos , also known as the Kingdom of Luang-Prabang, didn’t have
anyone who had adequate knowledge of astrology to prepare Lao calendar.
Prince
Phetsarath Rattanavongsa, who was fighting for the independence of Laos, tried
to revive the Lao astrology. It took him more than a decade. His first printed work of this subject under
the title of “Calendrier Laotien” was one of the articles in a French
newsletter “Bulletin des Amis du Laos” which was printed in Hanoi in August
of 1940.
Maha Sila Viravong, a well-known Lao scholar, who worked for the Prince for many years, had compiled and shared some of the Prince’s works and political life with the public.
The Sangkhant festival is supposed to be the celebration of an important astrological event, but it is in some way similar to the birth of Jesus Christ and Christmas.
The Sangkhant festival is supposed to be the celebration of an important astrological event, but it is in some way similar to the birth of Jesus Christ and Christmas.
3 or 4 days of the event: The
Lao (sidereal) New Year technically lasts 3 or 4 days. The first day is an astronomical new year
when the true sun reaches zero degree of Aries. The last day is a civil new
year when the mean sun reaches zero degree of Aries. Astronomically the true sun and the mean sun
take turns chasing each other, but it does not apply to the Lao sidereal
year. Lao Astronomical New Year is
always about 52 hours, or about 2 degrees and 7 arcminutes, ahead of the Lao
civil New Year.
Western Astrologers depict the
12 Zodiac signs clock wise. Lao Astrologers depict them counter clock wise and
number them from 0 to 11 instead of 1 to 12.
number them from 0 to 11 instead of 1 to 12.
It is a very important event. One of the
predictions, during this Sangkhaan, for the coming year is the amount of
rain for the crops. In the ancient time, a very important event such this one
must have something to do with celestial beings. So the Kabilaphom (Kapila
Brahma) story was introduced. According to the myth, there are seven
sisters, corresponding to the number of days in a week, who take turn yearly to
do the main task which is carrying their deceased father’s quadruple-faced
head, during the event. We call the selected one Nang Sangkhant. In Thailand
she is Nang Songkraan. One of the Nang Sangkhaan, Miss Thursday named
Kirini, carries a “gun”.
predictions, during this Sangkhaan, for the coming year is the amount of
rain for the crops. In the ancient time, a very important event such this one
must have something to do with celestial beings. So the Kabilaphom (Kapila
Brahma) story was introduced. According to the myth, there are seven
sisters, corresponding to the number of days in a week, who take turn yearly to
do the main task which is carrying their deceased father’s quadruple-faced
head, during the event. We call the selected one Nang Sangkhant. In Thailand
she is Nang Songkraan. One of the Nang Sangkhaan, Miss Thursday named
Kirini, carries a “gun”.
Gun powder was invented by the Chinese in the 8th or 9th
century, but not for weaponry until centuries later. So the myth might not be
as old as the Chulasakaraj, or it could be a misinterpretation of the
word believed to be “gun”.
During the festival, the Lao people build small sand stupas at a temple or
on a river bank nearby a temple to represent Mount Meru
or Sumeru, where Kabilaphrom’s head is kept.
ປີໃໝ່ ປີໃຫມ່ ປີໃໝ່ລາວ ປີໃຫມ່ລາວ ສົງການ ສັງຂານ ສັງຂານຕ໌ ສັງຂາຣ ລາວ
YOUTUBE: Unclesah
laohut.wordpress.com
LAO TRADITIONAL CALENDAR
The people of Sri Lanka, another Theravada Buddhist county, celebrates the same New Year in mid-April, but the celebration and history of the calendrical system are some ways different than of the other Theravada Buddhist countries. The tradition was spread directly from the South-Indian region of Tamil to Sri Lanka.
LAO TRADITIONAL CALENDAR
The people of Sri Lanka, another Theravada Buddhist county, celebrates the same New Year in mid-April, but the celebration and history of the calendrical system are some ways different than of the other Theravada Buddhist countries. The tradition was spread directly from the South-Indian region of Tamil to Sri Lanka.
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