House warming ceremony in Laos brings peace and good luck

 

There are many different types of ceremonies in Lao traditional culture. The house warming ceremony (Phiti Keun Heun Mai) is one of these types. It began a long time ago and has been practiced generation to generation. The purpose of this ceremony is to bring good luck, fortune, happiness and peace into the new house and households. It is also to thank the spirit of the land, where the house is based. There are three main aspects of the ceremony: selecting the best time, a procession around the house and activities inside the new house.

 

Selecting the best time is the first process after the new house has been built completely and it is already for occupancy. The best time is any day of the waxing moon every month, in which it depends on the lunar calendar. There are only elders, senior monks or ex-monks called Morphon (a prayer leader of the ceremony) who can foretell good days, such as the first day or fifth day of the waxing moon. Then, the house owner chooses one of these good days. Lao people believe that this selection will enhance households living in the new house smoothly in the future as the same as the waxing moon.

 

The procession of walking around the new house is practiced after choosing a good day. The house’s owners, relatives and friends gather in front of the new house at approximately 4.00 or 5.00am carrying a valued cloth bag and daily household items. This includes money, a basket of rice, a fishing net, blankets, pillows, mats, knives and sword. They walk around the house three times before entering the house. When they approach the front door each time, they will be asked by an old person  who pretends to be the house builder and the spirit of land where the house is based. He/she sits besides the door and asks them where they are from? And then a head of the group in the procession answers that they are come from a rich city (Meuang Sethi Mi Hung) and asks the old person to allow them live in the house. He also tells him/her that they carry an abundance of household items and valuables such as gold, silver and jewellery. Finally, he/she agrees and invites people in the procession into the house.

 

When people are in the house, they pray and chant best wishes in the householder’s bedroom. Then, the owner hangs a value cloth bag on the wall next to the head of his bed or on the right side of the bed. The bag must be over the head as it consists of valuables. Another activity is the Baci ceremony which is held at around 10:00 or 11:00 am and it takes approximately one hour. People who attend the ceremony bless households by tying white cotton string on their wrists. Finally, everybody has lunch together and enjoys Lao music with dancing, in which it depends on the financial condition of the house’s owner.

 

The house warming ceremony in Laos is very important for Lao people. Whether people have a small or big house, they cannot miss any parts of the process. Visitors can see and enjoy this ceremony when travelling in Laos.