Making Khao Tom for the Khao Pansa (Buddhist Lent) at Achaan Viengsavanh's home.

Khao Pansa – Buddhist Lent or the Retreat of Monks to their Village Wats (Buddhist temple) during the Rainy Season for 3 Months.

On the eve of Khao Pansa or Buddhist Lent, Yaeng, Samantha and I were invited to our Professor Viengsavanh’s quaint, modest home located near the National University of Laos (Dong Dok). On the eve of Khao Pansa, many Lao women prepare khao tom, (sweet rice with coconut and bananas steamed in banana leaves) to give to the monks for merit. Achaan Viengsavanh made a huge vat of rice for us to roll up in the banana leaves. We learned to roll up the rice dessert in the banana leaves. Apparently, I need to work on making my khao tom much smaller. We also made khaonom nep, which is white with coconut in the middle and is wrapped in banana leaves too, but in a triangular fashion.

It was a fascinating experience to see how our teacher and her family lived. They live in faculty housing, a structure that is basically a three room building with thatched walls and roofs. The kitchen was a small room where water was taken from a large jug and the stove looked like a tall thin bucket made of clay. The khao tom was steamed in a basket on top of the coal burning stove. While it steamed, our professor was kind enough to feed us dinner. She made khao soy, a dish with ground pork and rice noodles in a spicy chili sauce. It was delicious.

Khao Pansa begins early in the morning, about 6:00AM. By 5:30AM, many people have already gathered and prepared for Khao Pansa. The local wats (temples) set up chairs and on a long table they line up silver and clay alms bowls (which belong to the monks) to collect sticky rice, candy, snacks, money, flowers and candles. It was a festive experience. Many Lao people in their finest sinhs and pha biengs (shoulder slash) carry silver bowls to offer their gifts for merit. It was a spectacular sight. I didn’t know what to do, I simply got into line and followed what the local people were doing. Each bowl you come to, you must lift the offering up towards your head and then place it in the bowls. During which time, the monks chanted on a loud speaker and recited prayers. I sat under a tent to observe and take in the experience and felt very fortunate to be there with the people and that I was equally welcomed. I loved that although its a special religious event that should be taken seriously, the movement and the activities in and around the wats continued to go on, not taking away from the ceremony or being disrespectful. It was natural and informal, and the people had a high level of comfort, illustrating that the special event belongs to the people and not the other way around. The only sad part of this event is that I will not be here in three months when Buddhist Lent ends and the big celebration begins.