Laos · Weaving / Ritual Textile
ຜ້າບຸນ (Pha Boun)
The Lao pha boun (ຜ້າບຸນ — 'merit cloth') is a specific category of woven textile produced as a Buddhist merit-making offering — commissioned by a lay donor, woven by women specialist weavers, and offered to the temple (wat) for use as altar cloths, monk's robe wrapping, or hanging banners. The pha boun tradition represents the intersection of textile craft and Buddhist merit economy — the cloth must be woven in a single continuous session without interruption for the merit transfer to be valid (in some traditions), and the weaver's intention during weaving is considered as important as the technical quality of the cloth. The technique uses supplementary weft (jok) in silk or metallic thread to create Buddhist iconographic patterns — dhamma wheels, lotus flowers, temple architecture — with each motif carrying specific merit value in the Buddhist donation economy. The weave density and pattern complexity are calibrated to the donor's merit intention.
Risk level: Endangered · Lao national ICH list (Buddhist cultural practices)
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