In many ways, nagas, or serpent spirits, are interwoven into the fabric of towns and villages, inseparable from daily life
, have been worshiping serpent spirits in one form or another for more than 2,000 years. Celebrated in craft, architecture, and festivals, the naga, orin Lao, unifies the country’s diverse ethnic groups—there are at least 50—and bridges its enduring animist and Buddhist beliefs.
Eking out livelihoods from farming, fishing, and foraging, these early communities had—and still do—a strong connection to water. When Buddhism was introduced in the 14th century, the naga was anointed as the religion’s protector. In fact, when young Lao men are ordained as Buddhist monks, they are called nak, since they take their vows on behalf of the naga.
Several forms of the snake god grace Buddhist temples from the Golden Triangle to the country’s deep south, forming dramatic railings on stairs entering temples; as a nine-headed, golden sculpture shading a meditating Buddha at Wat Si Muang, a 16th-century Buddhist temple in the capital of Vientiane. Sputtering across the Mekong’s silty channels, long-tail wooden boats used for transit and tourism even mimic the sinewy contours of the naga.
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