Tak Bat in Luang Prabang Morning Alms Giving Ceremony

 Tak Bat  in Luang Prabang Morning Alms Giving Ceremony

Laos is predominantly a Buddhist country with 2/3 of the population identifying as Theravada Buddhist, the remainder, particularly hill’s tribe people being animists or spiritualists, a small percentage Christian and the remainder with no religion. While the government is communist, they tolerate the Buddhist practices and culture in this country.  

Our first morning in Luang Prabang was an early one with the opportunity to participate in tak bat, or the Buddhist Lao monks' morning collection of food. 

Our guide had organised us  a shawl to drape over one shoulder, and low chairs and at each one, a basket of warm sticky rice and a plastic glove was waiting for us.

Yes, there were a lot of camera toting foreigners there to witness the spectacle but  the locals too were out in force to support this tradition of feeding the monks, who eat only once or twice a day, and not after midday. 

In Luang Prabang, this tradition manifests as a morning ritual from 6.30 am where bright, saffron-clad monks silently line the streets while locals put gifts of food (mainly the Lao staple, sticky rice, as well as chocolates and money) into their large lidded silver bowls carried in bags and baskets over their shoulder. 

With almost eighty temples in Luang Prabang alone, this adds up to hundreds of monks, who take different routes depending on where in town their temple stands, and on each route the locals are waiting. 

In our case the monks solemnly and silently passed as we put a handful of rice in each bowl. When the first group had come to the end one of the monks returned rice to our bowls saying “you give to me,I give to you” so that we then were replenished to give to the later following monks their offering. 

The alms however are shared later in the morning so that no one goes without and the curries to go with the rice are also delivered directly to the monasteries. 

There are many young boys among the monks as life in the monastery is offered to all males of any age, and proves food and accommodation as well as an education. 

Indeed, most young men are expected to become a monk for a period in their life. There are various reasons for this expectation. For example, it is believed that monkhood helps prepare a man for marriage, as well as the making of merit (‘khuu baa’ or ‘karma’) for the son and the family and while women can become nuns, most women tend to be laypeople.

Monks, nuns and other lay spiritual leaders are highly respected within their communities. In actual fact. such religious practitioners have various responsibilities within the community including leading religious ceremonies, choosing an auspicious date for you to marry or buy a house, interpreting dreams, acting as traditional medical practitioners or providing counselling. Phew! 

Some Lao will even leave their families to gain training in a monastery and perhaps become a monk themselves and surprisingly, this is an accepted practice, though westerners may view this as shirking their family responsibilities. 

There were many young monks passing this morning, and most amusingly, one little one who had slept in, and was running and hastily collecting alms in an effort to catch up to the group.