Offerings to Buddha in Laos

I was recently reading through one of our many books on Laos, Impact: The Effects of Tourism on Culture and the Environment in Asia and the Pacific Tourism and Heritage Site Management in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR The book was published by UNESCO, Bangkok, 2004. You would think it's fairly technical from the title, but it has a lot of great information about Luang Prabang and Theravada Buddhism I haven't read anywhere else. In the chapter titled Heritage there was a description of what the typical offerings to Buddha symbolize. I often wondered why at tak bat, and here at home, Bai always is buying fruit that she places on her alter on "Buddha days." Now I know why and it makes sense. And the description adds more significance to one of my favorite photos I took on my first trip to Laos in November 1998 of a young girl at Wat Phu wanting us to buy incense and flowers to offer to the Buddha shrine at the sanctuary at the top of the hill.

Offerings to Buddha

"Offerings to Buddha images are made to remind us of the Buddha’s teachings. It is common to see a variety of offerings in Luang Prabang. These include the following:

Candles, which are offered to drive away darkness. They symbolize enlightenment and the light of knowledge which dispels the darkness of ignorance.

Incense, which provides a fragrant smell and symbolizes pure moral conduct. It reminds us to conduct ourselves well.

Water, which symbolizes purity, clarity and calmness.

Fruit, which symbolizes the fruit of enlightenment, which is our goal, and is representative of all actions having a reaction.

Flowers, which represent impermanence because their beauty and smell eventually whither and die.

Lotus flowers, which represent the potential or actuality of enlightenment as the lotus grows out of mud and rises above the water. Likewise, the Lord Buddha rose above his suffering and defilements to gain enlightenment."

We are planning a tour to Laos in June 2010 and understanding the importance of Theravada Buddhism in Laos will be a key component of our tour. We will post more information about the tour on our blog and out tour section on our Laos Essential Artistry Home Page.