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Alms Giving Ceremony, Luang Prabang

Morning Alms (Sai Bat) is a longstanding tradition in Laos Buddhist culture. In observing it, the devoted offer food to monks throughout the Luang Prabang every morning.

It is a longstanding tradition in Laos Buddhist culture that people will giving alms or donations. It dates all the way back to the 14th century, around the time when Theravada Buddhism was chosen as the official religion by Laotian Kings. It is still daily practiced by thousands of Buddhist monks across Laos today.

This act is known as “Sai Bat” or “Tak Bat”. Every morning at dawn, Buddhist monks and novices in orange robe set out from their monasteries to receive offerings of food from the local people. The offerings consist mainly of sticky rice which devotees wake up before dawn to cook. But sometimes offering food may contain fruit or other sweet treats, forming the monks’ daily meal. With more than 30 active Buddhist monasteries in Luang Prabang, the long column of monks walking silently and barefoot to receive their alms from people kneeling before them is certainly a sight to behold.

There is no fixed time for alms giving in Luang Prabang. The ceremony usually takes place at dawn. In summer, this will usually be around 5.30am. In winter, it tends to be later as the sun rises around 6.30am.

In front of Wat Sibounheuang.
Before six o'clock in the morning, the benches and offerings are ready for the ceremony.


Young monks waiting for the ceremony to begin.
A group of young monks waits for the start of the ceremony, sheltered at a bus stop.


Starting the ceremony.
The monks, barefoot and lightly dressed in orange, walk in a line through the streets.


Local people wait on the sidewalk.
The local people waits on the sidewalk outside their homes for the monks to make their offerings.


The day begins to dawn.

Purifying and transforming the mind of the giver.
Dana as a formal religious act is directed specifically to a monastic or spiritually-developed person. In Buddhist thought, it has the effect of purifying and transforming the mind of the giver.

  • Dana is a Sanskrit and Pali word that connotes the virtue of generosity, charity or giving of alms, in Indian religions and philosophies.
  • In Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, dana is the practice of cultivating generosity. It can take the form of giving to an individual in distress or need, or of philanthropic public projects that empower and help many.
  • Dana is an ancient practice in Indian traditions, tracing back to Vedic traditions.

Generosity developed through giving.
Generosity developed through giving leads to experience of material wealth and possibly being reborn in happy states.

  • In the Pali Canon's Dighajanu Sutta, generosity (denoted there by the Pali word caga, which can be synonymous with dana) is identified as one of the four traits conditioning happiness and wealth in the next life.
  • Conversely, lack of giving leads to unhappy states and poverty.

Giving and letting go.
Dana leads to one of the paramitas or "perfections", the danaparamita. This can be characterized by unattached and unconditional generosity, giving and letting go.

  • Buddhists believe that giving without seeking anything in return leads to greater spiritual wealth.
  • Moreover, it reduces the acquisitive impulses that ultimately lead to continued suffering from egotism.

Generosity can be given in both material or immaterial ways.
Dana, or generosity, can be given in both material or immaterial ways.

  • Spiritual giving—or the gift of noble teachings, known as dhamma-dana, is said by the Buddha to surpass all other gifts. This type of generosity includes those who elucidate the Buddha’s teachings, such as monks who preach sermons or recite from the Tripitaka, teachers of meditation, unqualified persons who encourage others to keep precepts, or helping support teachers of meditation.
  • The most common form of giving is in material gifts such as food, money, robes, and medicine.

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Location

Location: Sakkaline Rd, Luang Prabang, Laos