Influence On Culture and Art
The importance to Lao culture can be seen in how ubiquitous it is. It is a mainstay of dance and drama, song, painting, sculpture, religious texts, and manuscripts. It is also seen in the more common arts, such as classical morlam, folklore, and village dances. Scenes from court dancers were performed on Lao New Year celebrations, and other Buddhist holidays. The texts are commonly read during sermons. And the tales themselves have been deeply interwoven into local folklore, myth, and legend. Sculpture, lacquerware, carvings, and paintings adorn temples and palaces. The chapters have been intricately crafted into song and dance and accompanying music. Through the Buddhist elements, Lao beliefs of morality, karma and re-affirmed. The first half of Lao versions also establish the mythology for the creation of the Lao polities, land features, and waterways, and it serves as a transmission of culture.
- (English) (French) Royal theatre of Luang Prabang
Read more about this topic: Phra Lak Phra Lam
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“Study me then, you who shall lovers be
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