Joy of Lao New Year

(Baonghean.vn) - On New Year's Day, Lao people go to pagodas to perform ceremonies, ask for blessings, tie strings around their wrists, pray for good things and best wishes. New Year's Day begins in mid-April, when the doc khun flowers are in full bloom and the weather begins to change from the dry season to the rainy season. People pray for rain, so they make rain instead of wishes.

Because of the joy, many people exclaimed, how quickly the 3 days of Tet passed. The first day passed, the second day and then the third day were said goodbye with regret. The joy filled the whole of Laos. From high-ranking leaders to ordinary people, everyone happily celebrated the New Year according to their beliefs and faith. Lao New Year is a festival for everyone and for everyone. The gesture of wishing each other a happy new year by splashing water on others is with the belief that that person will be happy, rich, and smooth in the year. That is why, on New Year's Day, Lao people wish each other by going out into the streets, splashing water on each other with warm humane gestures. From that reason, Lao New Year is called "Boun hotnam" - Water Splashing Festival.

Here are some images captured by VOV's correspondent in Laos:



Pots of scented water soaked with dodder flowers to bathe the Buddha



Share scented water with temple goers



Any idol can be bathed



The air outside is still bustling.



Children bathe in the park's water tank for good fortune.

National Day