Our high school had a field trip to the local but national art museum, The Lao Art Museum today. It's new and was still under construction for our visit, but it's looking impressive so far and is mostly done. Our school is a bit out of downtown Vientiane and so is the museum so it wasn't too long of a bus ride for us. This is test week so it was nice for everybody to get a day off from the stress and take a ride somewhere new. It's easy to find on the map if you're in Vientiane, Laos. Just search for: Lao Art Museum and you'll easily discover it.
These big bells are fun to ring if they'll let you, but things were pretty strict at The Lao Art museum. They have service staff everywhere who'll politely remind you not to touch anything, take photos, smoke, eat or drink, and take your shoes off in certain rooms. It is believed that the bells serve as a gate between heaven and earth and striking them can rid you of negative forces.
The Lao Art Museum is built on what looks like a man-made lake and you must walk on a floating bridge from the parking lot to enter which gives you a nice chance to admire its traditional architecture. It's quite the walk but thankfully there are roofed areas every once in a while in case of intense sunlight or rain. It's always hard to get a good shot of something far away on cloudy or foggy days right?
I'm glad it was a cool day or this walk could've been quite the heat trek in the normally blazing hot Lao sun this time of year. We had sports day on a super sunny and scorching day recently so the cloud cover was appreciated. Too bad we didn't have sports day on a day like this.
These are the steps heading to the entrance of the museum and the final time we were all together before everyone went off on their own. You are not allowed to take pictures, plus it's dark inside so none of my students were able to share any of their non-selfie photos today. I took all of the pictures today as quickly as I could before any of the staff saw me, but no one said anything to me. Maybe they didn't see me or maybe they weren't confident in their English to say anything, but I like to think it's cause I'm fast and sneaky like a ninja.
Many of the Buddha statues at The Lao Art Museum were entrusted there because the ancient cultural treasures would be safer while being shared with the public and for future generations. There's no way to ever know for sure, but I wonder what and where is the oldest Buddha statue ever made that is still around. I'm guessing that it's somewhere in India.
They have many types of Buddha styles from all over Laos and from different time periods at The Lao Art Museum. One of the main Buddhist themes that the museum presents is the seven days of Buddha and his posture for each day and what they represent. It looks like what the museum had on display in English was a product of Google Translate or ChatGPT so I've put each day of the week into my own words below.
Monday Buddha: Standing and Pacifying
Mondays come with the lucky color of yellow. Monday people have a good memory and love exploring. This Buddha posture looks back to when two tribes were fighting over the river rights when Lord Buddha reminded them to choose peace instead of war. His raised palm shows reassurance and symbolizes the rejection of fear as fear leads to The Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Have you not been paying attention, my young apprentice?
Tuesday Buddha: Reclining
For those born on a Tuesday, pink is your lucky color. Tuesday people can be brave, active, and sometimes impulsive. They are go-getters who are unafraid of difficult challenges. The reclining Buddha might appear to be taking a peaceful nap after a rough start to the week, but it's an old Buddhist legend of how the Buddha assumed the reclining posture not out of laziness, but as a way to appear larger before a creeping demon who would abandon its evil intentions after learning from Buddha's teachings. This posture shows confidence and is a reminder to face life without aggression but with a calm and wise heart.
Morning Wednesday Buddha: Alms
Being born on a Wednesday myself makes me happy to see that my day is special in that it's the only day to be represented twice with a morning and an evening Buddha posture. My birthday is also next Wednesday so it feels like a bit of serendipity posting about this on a Wednesday. If you were born on a Wednesday then green is your lucky color and you may be working in some form of creative field as you are an artistic, emotional, and polite person. Green has always been my favorite color (except for the few years I spent in the army) so it helped me believe in this Buddhist take on the days of the week.
Evening Wednesday Buddha: Under the Serpent
Green is the lucky color of Wednesday evenings too, but it's a lighter shade of green. People born on Wednesday evenings are honest and hardworking professionals. The image of Buddha meditating while a giant cobra spreads its hood to protect him from the rain symbolizes the moment he reaches enlightenment. It would be really hard for me to stay calm and reach inner peace while a giant cobra snake was flexing its hood behind me, but that's why I'm not the Buddha.
Thursday Buddha: Meditating
For Thursday, orange is your lucky color. Orange represents creativity and warmth. Thursdays are known for people who are calm and tell the truth. They would do well working in law. The meditating Buddha's posture with his legs crossed and hands in his lap represents a state of heavenly peace and enlightenment. It reminds us of Buddha's path to self-discovery through deep meditation while he was under a Bodhi tree.
Friday Buddha: Determined Tolerance
Blue is the lucky color for all those fun-loving Friday babies. They are friendly, ambitious, and naturally entertaining helping them shine in the world of performing arts. This posture inspires Friday-born individuals to remain grounded and balanced as they chase their dreams.
Saturday Buddha: Full Lotus
If you were born on a Saturday, then Buddha says purple is your lucky color and you're likely an introspective, calm, and highly logical person. This Buddha shows spiritual focus with legs crossed in the classic lotus position.
Sunday Buddha: Seven Days Standing and Looking
This posture represents the time after Lord Buddha came to know the way after standing in deep meditation for a week. If you are born on a Sunday, your lucky color is red and you're likely a wise person loved who's respected by others. Sunday has Buddha standing like the beginning of the week on Monday to show reflection and complete the cycle of postures.
Most of the artwork on display was made of wood, but there were some more ancient Buddhas made of stone in glass cases. I didn't like having to take my shoes off and the cases made taking pictures difficult so I didn't get any interesting pictures of them, but it was fun checking them out. The wood statues were hard to shoot with the dark lighting too, but I still managed to get a few good shots despite having to rush and sneak-shoot them all.
They have a little cafe and restaurant in the back of the museum. The prices were airport-level expensive, but the food and coffee were good. One of my students saw I didn't have any money and couldn't contact my wife to QR code some over so she kindly bought me a watermelon shake and some french fries.
I like how this carving captures the look of a small town common in rural parts of Laos. Wood carving has a long history in Laos and this part of the world is famous for its unique Siamese style going back nearly a thousand years.
This picture was a small miracle because every one of my Sophomores was present at the same time. There is always somebody late, absent, or screwing around, but we all made it for this shot. I think I'll print, laminate, and proudly put it up by my desk.
Thanks for reading about our Wednesday walk around The Lao Art Museum today. I hope you enjoyed the few pictures I was able to sneak in. Have a great day and remember: The Buddha will be with you, always.
The Lao Art Museum:
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