Travel to Laos: Buddhist Lent End

After performing the Buddhist lent for three months, in the rainy season starting from the 1st dark moon of the eight month to the 1st dark moon of the the eleven month, the closing ceremony is organized. Firstly, the performance of buddhist lent activities is the responsibilities of the monks, not the lay people.
There after, the form of the ceremony change as the villagers decide to prepare the offerings for merit making. So in the morning of the fifteen day of the eleventh month, the villagers take the offerings to the temples and listen to Buddha's teachings while the candles ceremony, light worshipping, and fire boat festivities are performed in the evening.
In the next day, the 1st dark moon of the eleven month, boat racing is organized on the Mekong river.
The Buddhist Lent closing ceremony is performed in the same way as the beginning of Buddhist Lent, Boun Hokaopradabdine and Boun khao Sark or Salark. At the festival day Buddhist villagers, dressed in new and beautiful clothes take the silver bowl of plateful of food and materials to offer the monks for merit making.

How to organize the ceremony: The term "Watsa" means the rain or rainy season. The monks complete the practices of Buddha teachings during the period of three months in the rainy season without spending any nights in other places. On the 1st day of the dark moon of the eleventh month the closing ceremony for Buddhist Lent should be arranged. But, in practice, it is organized in the full moon of the fifteen in the eleventh month, one day before the due date. In the Buddha's teaching, the closing ceremony was instead made after three months of Buddhist Lent ended. So, in practice the monks made Palavana on the evening of the full moon of the fifteen in the eleven month. It is one day before the real closing date.

The term Pavalana means to announce something in advance or warn or advise each other for example when the villagers say to the monks in advance that " if the monks need to have the 4 main factors such as; clothing, bedding, medicines or something else, please advise us." This also means Pavalana. It's to say something to do in advance.

Pavalana is the task of the monks violate the Buddhist rules, they should warn each other. The reason that the Lord of Buddha allowed the monks to give advise is that when the monks stay together during the Buddhist Lent in the same place it would a few of them might behave badly or make mistakes. After the Buddhist Lent ends, they warn or advice each other before leaving. This means "Pavalana."
To conduct the ceremony for Pavalana, the oldest monk has make a decision first. He may say three, two times or one. Then the others say like him or saying one by one. The words are said in Pali language. it means that " To you all the monks, please listen to me today is the full moon day. It is the day to give prior notice that we have completed the Buddha practice."

in front the others in After the decision is made, the oldest monk sits on his knees, joins his hands and says Pavalanapali language: " To you all the monks, may I notice you in advance and do not in doubt that I made mistakes or sins caused by a breach of the rules of the monastic order(Patimakkha), please warn me, to change my bad behaviour for proper behaviour acting." Then all the monks have to say the same words until its completion. The monks who completed the Buddhist Lent, can again Anisong 5, merit making.

Illuminate ceremony: an illuminate ceremony is the custom of Brahmanism to worship the gods whose names are; the God of Pha Phom(Brahman), the God of Pha Ixuan, and the God of Pha Nalai(Vishnu). Illuminated boats made of bamboo trucks. The oil for the lights screened from the cow fats. After the lamp making the lamp, it was fixed on the top of the pole which is about of 10 Wa high, each unit of Wa lenght equivalent to 2 metres (About 20 metres) from the ground of worship the tree gods above. It is organized in the twelve month. After the worshipping period is over. The lamps are sent along the rivers.

The illuminate ceremony begins in the full moon of the 14 or 15 to the 1st day of the dark moon in the eleventh month. They made the fire place in the yard of pagoda. The oil for fire are from the oily fruits namely Marktumka and fix the cotton coils for fire lighting.

The perfume sticks are made of perfume powder called Omnien. Firstly Omnien powder is dried under the sun, then mixed with the coconut skins and covered with paper. It is called Pathub or Phan Thub.

The worship place for perfume sticks lighting is called Vongkotkhili which means the mountain. According with the story of Vetsantala, it was the place where Phravet lived. To perform the lighting perfume sticks ceremony, some pagodas make camps with many complicated and curved roads inside. There is one entrance in and many doors out and curved roads inside. There is one entrance in and many doors out. Entering to this place, some people lost the way out. Therefore the ones who enter to burn the perfume sticks should consider for not forget the way out. It just made for fun.

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