Laos celebrates new year in April which coincides with their hottest time of the year and the beginning of the monsoon season. That and the Buddhist traditions mean things are celebrated a little differently. The idea of a new year bringing hope is universal. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This stamp takes a formal and reverential tone to the ceremonies around new year. That is well and good and the stamp is well printed. New Year in Laos is foremost a cellebration though and that seems missing from this stamp. A while back I did a stamp on a similar festival as practiced by Hindus in Guyana, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/08/19/guyana-apparantly-south-america-1969-after-the-political-rift-along-racial-lines-a-country-seeks-a-new-start-with-a-celebration-of-spring/ . I think that stamp better captured the party atmosphere.
Todays stamp is issue A239, a 150 Kip stamp issued by Laos on November 20th. 1990, seven months after new year. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 cancelled to order. 150 Kip is currently worth less than 2 cents.
Pi Mai, the Laotian new year is a three day holiday. The first day, April 13th, is the last day of the old year. It is reserved for cleaning body, home, and especially Buddha Icons. The second day is thought of as the day between the years. It is a day for gathering sand and flowers. The sand is to be taken to the temple to build mounds and the flowers are to decorate the Icons and to add a pleasant smell to the water used on the third day. The third day, April 15th, is the actual first day of the new year and water is poured on the old and Monks by the young in return for blessings. Then it broadens with perfumed water being spayed every way. In recent years the celebratory spraying has started to include shaving and whipped cream from cans.
I mentioned above the taking of the sand to the temple to build mounds. These are called Stupas and are meant to build merit. The mounds are supposed to represent the mountain Phoukhou Kallot, where ancient King Kabinlaphrom’s skull was kept by his seven daughters.
There are also beauty pageants where seven young maidens compete to be name Miss Lao New Year. The seven contestants are also meant to represent the seven daughters of King Kabinlaphrom.
Well my drink is empty. Happy new year to all, it is probably new years somewhere everyday. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting.