Baci Ceremony strengthens ties of friendship
The Baci Ceremony brings good luck
The Baci ritual is a traditional way of expressing our deepest feeling in many aspects of life. It is one of the most important traditional ceremonies of Lao culture. The occasion can be formal, at the government level , or informal with the family.
It has a number of purposes:
- To congratulate people who have overcome a serious problem for example, from sickness, from serious accident or a mother and her new born baby.
- To strengthen relationships or show solidarity between relatives, friends and colleagues or people who work together. It means to strengthen ties of friendship.
- To bless people or wish them good luck. For example, people who are going to travel to another province or oversea for a long time. They always have a Baci ceremony to bless them and wish them to success with their work, study and their lives.
The key participants are ‘Maw Pawn’, the prayer leader who prays and chants. He knows a lot about Lao tradition. Also, there is the person for whom the Baci ceremony is held. This person can be anyone who is recovered from sickness, from serious problem or who is going to travel to overseas quite a long time. Other may be older people, relatives and friends who are invited to gathrer and eat together for friendship.
The centrepiece of the ceremony is the ‘Phar Khuan’, made from banana leaves. It is decorated with flowers, white cotton string, boiled chickens, boiled eggs, fruit, sticky rice, a bottle of water, a bottle of alcohol and rice cakes.
At the ceremony everyone sits round the Phar Khuan and listens to Maw Panw . After Maw Panw finishes his chanting, he then ties white cotton string on the wrists of person for whom the Baci is held. Then other people can tie and bless him/ her. After that other people tie string on each others’ wrists.
According to the belief of the Lao people dating back hundreds of years, the Baci ceremony is still very important for Lao people and is a traditional way of expressing our deepest feelings in many aspects of live. The Baci Ceremony is going to encourage, strengthen relationships and keep blessing people forever.
