LAO LITERATURE

 Traditional Lao literatures consists of Buddhist sutras, jatakas (stories connected with the past lives of the Buddha), poems and epics. Many works have been lost because they were originally written in form of palm-leaf books, which perish quickly. Other were recorded and passed down orally in the form of songs and recitations. For English speakers, the pickings are even slimmer as very few works of Lao literature have been translated to English. 

 The most famous piece of classical Lao literature is the Pha Lak Pha Lam , an epic based on the Hindu Ramayana . Hindu literature is believed to have been introduced to Laos via the Angor civilization in Cambodia around one thousand years ago. The Lao version of the story has uniquely Lao elements. There are even some tribal versions of the Ramayana. 

 There are also many folk stories. A famous story associated with Luang Prabang is the legend of Pu Yer Yer. It goes: Many, many years, under King Khun Boromrajathirat, a huge tree rose from the earth and became so big its branches blocked out the sky and brought darkness and coldness to the earth. The king asked if anyone could cut down the tree. No one responded. Finally an odd couple named Pu Yer Ya Yer emerged and said they would give it a try. They labored for three months and three days and achieved their goal. The only problem was that they were standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when the tree fell and their spirits are remembered today.