VIENTIANE, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The End of Buddhist Lent Festival at the end of October is one of the biggest and most colorful celebrations in Laos, brimmed with a myriad of festivities including traditional boat races.
Celebrated across the Southeast Asian country, the event marks the end of monks' three-month rain retreat and coincides with the end of the rainy season.
When Lent ends, monks are once again free to leave their temples and travel from place to place to preach the scriptures, carry out ordination ceremonies, and engage in other religious rituals.
On Sunday, people wore their finest clothes as they celebrated the end of Buddhist Lent, with traditional rituals taking place at temples nationwide.
During the festival, there were almsgiving and presentation of food packets to monks and novices in the early morning and throughout the day, followed by candlelight processions in the evening.
People lighted lanterns to decorate the city, and paraded with and later floated large dragon boats down the Mekong River. At the same time, people floated small lighted boats made of banana leaves on rivers, to let the diseases and bad luck drift away and good luck flow in.
The ceremonies were followed by the Boat Racing Festival, a show of Lao culture, which was held in the Lao capital Vientiane the next day.
It was centered at Vat Chan near the waterfront and drew thousands of spectators, as young crews power traditional wooden longboats down the stream. The banks of the Mekong River came alive with food stalls, traditional music, dance performances and various other cultural activities.
In addition, northern Laos' Luang Prabang province is one of the best places to explore the festival as it is the center of Buddhist life and stages larger and grander events. ■
