The story
Wat Mai Watering Ceremony in Luang Prabang
Each Pi Mai, Luang Prabang's most sacred Buddha image, the Prabang, is moved from the royal palace museum to a temporary pavilion at Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham for three days, where thousands queue to pour scented water over it. The ritual is considered the town's most significant watering ceremony during the Lao New Year, distinct from the more boisterous street water-throwing happening simultaneously elsewhere in Luang Prabang.
For three days each year during Pi Mai, the Lao New Year in mid-April, the Prabang, Laos's most sacred Buddha image and the statue from which Luang Prabang takes its name, is carried from its usual home in the former royal palace museum to a temporary pavilion set up in front of Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham's ornate five-tiered roofed sim.