Jul
14
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The legend of the rocket festival in Laos
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In anticipation of the rainy season, Lao people hold a festival to encourage the heavens to open up and deliver rainfall in abundance, so they can be certain of a good rice harvest.
The festival centres around the launch of home-made rockets into the sky to prompt the spirits to send fertility down to Earth.
Rockets are made from pvc piping, which is stronger than bamboo.
At this time of the year, smoke trails from rockets can frequently be seen in the skies, especially in rural areas.
After Lao New Year (Pi Mai Lao), people throughout the country begin preparing for Boun Bangfai, otherwise known as the Rocket Festival. This longstanding tradition has been practised for centuries, long enough for people to develop ever larger and more powerful rockets. There are rockets so powerful that a legend revolves around one particularly far-reaching missile in Xieng Khuang province.
Locals believe that a king named Khoun Cheuang built rice wine jars and rockets to celebrate victory over his enemies. This was considered to be the first rocket festival ever held in Laos. Now the stone jars and rocket platform have been turned into tourist attractions, bringing visitors to Xieng Khuang province.
The legend describes rockets of all sizes, but one novice monk was assigned to launch the biggest rocket.
Struggling to ignite the missile, the novice was told he must launch it before he could join other monks who had already started on their journey to Vientiane province. In desperation the novice finally lit the rocket and flew off astride it, propelled southwards over a distance of several hundred kilometres.
It is also believed that the Phuan ethnic group used to hold rocket festivals on mountaintops to seek good fortune from the gods. They believed that wherever the biggest rocket landed the soil would be the most fertile for growing crops.
The word rocket initially brings a weapon to mind, but festival rockets are merely large bottle rockets.
The rockets come in various sizes. The smaller ones are called Bangfai Noi, meaning small rocket. Larger ones are designated by a number such as 10,000 (Meun); 100,000 (Saen); and 1,000,000 (Lan), referring to the largest missiles built.
Even though parts of the legend are unexplained, the festival remains widespread throughout Laos.
Now the ancient launch platform on Koud Mountain in Xieng Khuang province is being renovated in preparation for the biggest festival ever held in the province. The idea is to attract visitors and popularise the legend behind the festival.
There is a fair amount of raucous activity at these festivals and plenty of startling sights. Traditions include cross-dressing and even cross-generation costumes. People dance around the launch platform to provoke the gods into sending lightning and thunder.
Folklore also provides a clue about how people in ancient times made their rockets.
A great deal of work goes into assembling a missile and accurate calculations are needed to ensure that the gunpowder packed inside results in the highest trajectory.
Components and materials used in making the black gunpowder that fires the rockets are sourced naturally. Rocket makers collect materials from the forest and along the streets. They then buy saltpetre and sulphur, mixing it with charcoal.
In the olden days, bamboo tubes were used as rocket shells but now the ingredients are enclosed in pvc piping, making them less dangerous. A jack is then used to pack the ingredients into the cylinder, rather than simply pressing it in by hand.
This will also ensure the rocket reaches the highest point possible.
The last step is to decorate the rocket. Colourful and elaborate artwork is painted on, as the proud rocket makers vie to produce the most spectacular creation among their peers.
Finally the rocket is ready to go. At times a rocket can fail to take off, or explodes on the launch platform. In good fun, the person responsible for this very public failure will be unceremoniously tossed into the nearest patch of mud.
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