Mor Lam and Monks

Mor lam, is a northeastern Thai tradition that is slowly dying due to the influence of pop music. It would be wonderful if a new generation of Isaan youngsters with talent could add new energy to this lyrical art.

An unforgetable talent that had helped keep this artform current was Pumpuang Duangjan, R.I.P. While there are current artists like Jintara Poonlarp, Siriporn Ampaipong, and even a Dutch singer Christy Gibson, these studio-produced mor lam pales in comparison to the excitement and appreciation of a spontaneous talent shown in the live sparing of a mor lam contest or performance among the Isaan people.

I was fortunate enough to witness one such performance at a young age.  Maybe multimillion Thai pop music studio businessmen can be tipped to fund these contests in the Isaan country side, in the way that Nelson Mandela did for South African rugby, as shown in the movie, Invictus, not only to promote the goodwill of Luk Tung, a local musical genre not imported from abroad, but to give a sense of pride in cultural identity of the young, as well as to discover new natural talent.

I had always thought that this musical form is in some ways similar to modern rap, only much more traditional. It challenges its performers to dig up the best use of language and rythm on the spot. The best perform from a memory or repertoire of word play, rythm, rhyme and metaphors. It's what I would call a neobaroque form of entertainment because the musical accompaniment is simple and repetitive yet intuitive and spontaneous. It's a whole performance that engages and pulls in its viewers or in this case audience and listeners.



So what does mor lam performances have to do with monks? 

I just recently read the history of Phra Ajaan Mun Bhuridatta Thera (1870-1949), the most venerable founder of Thailand's famous forest monk tradition. Here's what http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ says,

The unusual style of Phra Ajaan Mun's sermons may be explained in part by the fact that in the days before his ordination he was skilled in a popular form of informal village entertainment called maw lam. Maw lam is a contest in extemporaneous rhyming, usually reproducing the war between the sexes, in which the battle of wits can become quite fierce. Much use is made of word play: riddles, puns, innuendoes, metaphors, and simple playing with the sounds of words. The sense of language that Ajaan Mun developed in maw lam he carried over into his teachings after becoming a monk. Often he would teach his students in extemporaneous puns and rhymes. This sort of word play he even applied to the Pali language, ...

The best of buddhist teachings comes from oral traditions, in the forms of rhetorics, whether in the Tibetan debating or in this case the teachings of humble monks of Isaan origins, that towers above the more conventional Thervada style of Thailand's center. The language of mor lam and the language of forest monk tradition is Lao, which is (central Thais would probably love to deny) the true origin of the Thai language. Acharn Mun and other forest tradition monks had so internalized the teaching of the Buddha, which they had learnt in Pali, but it was practice and practice (of meditation) that allowed them to master the knowledge and thereby able to transmit in simple yet enlightening forms (in Lao) to their students and the common people. 

An interesting note to leave, pondering on oral tradition, links to languages, and preservations of cultures.

Acharn Mun passed away in 1940 at Wat Pa Suthawat, Sakon Nakhon. A small museum was built in his honor where there is an exhibit of his personal belongings and a brief account of his life.

Wax image of Pra Acharn Mun Bhuridatto, 

at Wat Pa Suthawat, Sakon Nakhon

On the banks of Nong Harn Lake

I was born in Sakon Nakhon, a Northeastern province of Thailand some two hundred kilometers off the great Mekhong River close to important crossings to Laos.  I never really lived there since my father's job took us away when I was only two years old, but both my parents have extensive families and deep roots with this sleepy town on the banks of Nong Harn Lake.  During numerous visits over the years, I searched for stories of its history again and again, always finding something new to learn about this outpost where the Royal family deemed important enough to build their winter palace in the Phu Pan mountain range.

The present day city took its time in picking up a more urban life.  It had remained nearly unchanged over some twenty or more years as I was growing up.  It was only in the late nineties that some modernization and renovation works seem to have caught up a bit, changing Sakon Nakhon's once familiar landscape into something a bit more exciting than the sleepy town it once was.  However, anyone who visits Sakon Nakhon and gets to know its people soon discovers that its more interesting stories are hidden in its people's memories of historical events that have touched this surprising well visited place over centuries.

I've visited Wat That Choeng Chum with my mother several times to pay respects to the Buddha image in its main hall and as well as to receive blessings from its abbots.  Of course, my mother kept stressing how important it all was to me but that didn't sink in until I read Eye Witness's Thailand guide book. Isn't it strange how growing up with certain sights/monuments you don't really value its importance until something/someone forces you to look at it with new eyes?

Sakon Nakhon turns out to be a very ancient place with prehistoric ancient cave painting and its most prominent monuments dating back to the 11th century.  The 'living' evidence of this is the Phra That Narai Cheng Weng, built by the princess whose name was given to this Kmer style Hindu religious monument.  A lintel hangs over its entrance showing Vishnu dancing to the destruction of the universe as he tramples the head of a lion.

The main temple hall of another landmark in Sakon Nakhon is the Wat Pra That Choeng Chum.  It was built during the time of Ayudha but with a Lao styled chedi.  If you plan to visit this temple, make sure to look for the hidden door (behind the main Buddha image) which is occasionally open for you to enter the ancient prang where you may find an ancient Kmer inscription at the base of its entrance.  Within the prang are several Lao and Kmer Buddha images.

Sadly one evidence of the city's antiquity that has been altered by approaching urbanism is the square-shaped, double-layered Koo Muang (คูเมือง) or ancient moats that once encircled a city center, a very common characteristic of old cities in the Southeast Asian peninsula.  It is now just a common road.  It is also believed that the inland pond, Sra Pan Thong, just off the banks of the Nong Harn Lake was built around the same period.  Centuries later it still offers the surrounding residence a perfect place to spend a romantic afternoon with your date or just for a round of daily exercise.

There's much more to write about Sakon Nakhon's history and I'll be posting them in patches.

I just wanted to leave a note for anyone interested in visiting my hometown.  Planning to visit Thailand's provinces during their famous festival seasons is the best way to catch the lively vibe of many of these far away and usually sleepy places.  Sakon Nakhon's festivals are the Red Cross Fair, So Ram Luk Festival, Boon Bangfai or Rocket Festival (at Amphoe Phang Kone), Boat Race festival, and its famous Wax Parade Festival.  You can look out for the events with a fellow blogger passionate about the place: http://sakonnakhon-live.blogspot.com/

P.S: Don't go back home without some georgeous Madmee silk or village woven naturally dyed cotton, or some of Sakon's delicious isaan sausages.