Authors : Paijit Thongphun, Niyom Wongpongkham and Banyat Salee
Abstract: This research is a qualitative research that studies the art style, iconography and cultural adjustments to Khmer Prasadas in Champasak District, Lao PDR. The tools used within this study was primary surveys, structured and non-structured interviews, participatory and non-participatory observation. The target group consists of the experts, the practitioners and related parties. The result from the study shows that, the history of Vat Phu consist of a story called Khatthanam, the legend of Phraya Kumpatha, the oral storytelling human sacrifice and the legend of Thao Bachiang and Nang Malong. According to its historical background it received the influence from Cham art style and could be found in the stone inscription, since, the Buddhist year of 998 until the 15th Buddhis era where there were renovations and additional constructions in the art form towards the end of Kriang era and the beginning of Pa Puan era. The cultural adjustments consist of stories of Shivaism and Vishnuism, the second-tier Gods and animals. The adjustments found in the Khmer Prasadas were plants, animals and people and Gods accompanying the story. The physical adjustments consist of the structural changes of the Prasadas in the blueprint of the Khmer Prasadas, the form and the architectural structure were all the changes according to the Buddhist beliefs and the cultural adjustments that include the beliefs, ceremonies and the traditions within the communities that relates to Brahmanism and spirituality as well as the ancestral ghost which goes in line with the word “villagers religion”.
Paijit Thongphun, Niyom Wongpongkham and Banyat Salee, 2018. The Art Style Iconography and the Cultural Adjustment to Khmer Prasadas in Champasak District, Lao PDR. The Social Sciences, 13: 862-876.