Phra Lak Phra Ram

Ramayana reached Laos much later than Cambodia (Reamker) and Thailand (Ramakien) which caused the loss of its original Hindu influence and affected local adaptation.

[3] Since it is also considered a Jataka tale, it is referred to as Phra Ram Xadôk (ພຣະຣາມຊາດົກ, pʰrāʔ ráːm sáː dók).

Lao legends attribute to the introduction of the Phra Ram Xadôk via the first king of Lan Xang, Chao Fa Ngoum, who arrived with his soldiers, artists, dancers, concubines, poets from musicians from Angkor who would have been familiar with the Reamker.

Tai tribes definitely settled on the fringes of highly Indianized kingdoms of the Mon and Khmer culture, adopting much of Indic learning and knowledge.

As those kingdoms receded, the Lao came to venerate the earlier Hindu temples, often decorated in Ramayana and the Mahabharata motifs, such as at Vat Phou in Champassak.

In khône and lakhone dance-dramas, the symbolism, costumes, and story are also more attuned to and influenced by Khmer, Thai, and Javanese traditions.

[9] Hampanasouane as Mara, the personification of worldly desires who tried to tempt the Buddha during meditation, can be seen in both their searches for lust, power, and material gain.

[10] Although important, religiously, it is subordinate to the greater and more chronologically recent Jataka tales of Phra Vet and the annals of the lifetime of Siddhartha Gautama.

She is a great goddess and ancestral spirit that is as sacred and quintessentially 'theirs' as the Ganges is to India and a personification of water, bounty, and life.

[12] Like most animistic elements, the Nāga is seen in both Buddhist and Hindu-influenced contexts, but worship of nagas predates Indian influence in the region, and are common in folktales of Laos and Isan.

It was often read at temple, probably in Buddhism's attempt to replace Lao spirit propitiation ceremonies that involved water buffalo sacrifice.

Phra Ram (ພຣະຣາມ, pʰrāʔ ráːm) Phra Lak (ພຣະລັກ, pʰrāʔ lāk) Nang Sida (ນາງສີດາ, náːŋ sǐː daː) Thôtsakane or Hapmanasouane (ທົດສະກັນ, tʰōt sáʔ kan; ຮາບມະນາສວນ, hȃːp māʔ naː sŭaːn) Divine parentage makes these monkeys special.

Scene from Phra Lak Phra Ram , the Lao form of the Indian Ramayana . Several versions of the story were recorded on palm-leaf manuscripts between the 15th and early 19th centuries. [ 1 ]
A dancer wearing a demon mask from Phra Lak Phra Ram