Saturday, July 04, 2009
LAO HERITAGE AND WAT LAO RATTANARAM
THE SOUND of drums is loud enough to rattle my bones and shake my thoughts. Their sounds reverberate and bound through a hectic foyer past bulletin boards that once held potluck announcements and choir practice schedules. Where I stand, in this entrance, it all feels out of place – here now are Buddhist monks chanting below a large crucifix, a lavish ceremonial atmosphere in a predominantly Skid Row part of town, a Technicolor crowd dressed in the colors of peacocks and tangerines. This lavish Lao temple has risen from an abandoned Protestant church, repurposing for a small community of outsiders the remnants of mainstream.
Not many people know much about Laos, its culture or traditions. It is a small country with a population half the size of Los Angeles, spread over a countryside as large as Utah. What the community may lack in size it makes up for in grandeur and spirit; as an outsider, invited in by the community to help document their efforts to preserve this culture and these traditions of vital importance to them, I cannot help but respect the sheer will of a body of people so focused on one shared goal. The makeup of this community itself is diverse and represents a wide spectrum of economic disparities, jobs and ages, not to mention Lao ethnic minorities. Some are life-long monks, others are community elders who have immigrated to the United States after living a majority of their life in Laos, still others were born here and have never seen their parent’s homeland. What they share is a spirit of effort, pageantry and a desire to hold on to pieces of their past so that their life, their Lao life, is not forgotten in a sea of western culture.My time with the Lao community began as a photography project. Through a series of fortunate discoveries I was introduced to Prince Nithakhong Somsanith, a member of the Lao royal family. Prince Somsanith established a small cultural center in the northern Lao city of Luang Prabang, a town long prized for its cultural purity. Somsanith uses this center to educate young people about Lao culture and help them preserve their country’s heritage. He has also exported the efforts of this small center to Lao communities around the world.
Puang Champa House in Luang Prabang, Laos
A CREATIVE LEADER
“What I endeavor to bring to the Lao youth has little to do with technique or proper protocol, or even commercial value,” says Somsanith. “To me, what we offer is a fragile connection, a frayed thread connecting me and future generations like me to our heritage and our cultural roots. Its implications are many – cultural, spiritual, religious meaning, economic. I fear that if Lao youth are not given an opportunity to understand and know their culture, we will lose that special ingredient that makes Laos different and unique.”
The activities taking place at Somsanith’s center in Luang Prabang are exported to youth programs at Lao temples sprinkled around the world. In Richmond, Calif., the annual traditions of Lao culture become opportunities to showcase to youth the techniques and folklore of Lao h
eritage, and a teachable moment that provides Lao youth with total immersion in a culture unfamiliar to them. The presence of a formal spiritual leader – a Buddhist abbot – helps young Lao withdraw into the community, and instills in them a sense of pride and purpose.
This day my visit to the Lao temple in Richmond marks the Lao New Year and the beginning of a week of celebrations that will culminate in a large weekend festival. The mood is jovial, spirits are high and the smells of roasting chicken and spice fill the air. These are the manifestations of Somsanith’s programs – people drawn together, young and old, to keep traditions and folklore alive in the spirit of this rich community.
The activities taking place at Somsanith’s center in Luang Prabang are exported to youth programs at Lao temples sprinkled around the world. In Richmond, Calif., the annual traditions of Lao culture become opportunities to showcase to youth the techniques and folklore of Lao h
eritage, and a teachable moment that provides Lao youth with total immersion in a culture unfamiliar to them. The presence of a formal spiritual leader – a Buddhist abbot – helps young Lao withdraw into the community, and instills in them a sense of pride and purpose.This day my visit to the Lao temple in Richmond marks the Lao New Year and the beginning of a week of celebrations that will culminate in a large weekend festival. The mood is jovial, spirits are high and the smells of roasting chicken and spice fill the air. These are the manifestations of Somsanith’s programs – people drawn together, young and old, to keep traditions and folklore alive in the spirit of this rich community.
“To me, the work we do in Luang Prabang is important, yes. But my primary satisfaction comes when I visit temples like Richmond, or our families in Minnesota, where young Lao people are learning to play Lao instruments, perform traditional dance and weave tapestries that tell stories about our long history. That is my moment, and it is theirs for the future.”
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