Religious beliefs in Lao People's Democratic Republic

The state religion of the Kingdom of Laos is Buddhism which was introduced in the beginning in the 8th century by Mon Buddhist monks and was widespread in the 14th century. There were a number of Laotian kings who were important patrons of Buddhism. Lao Buddhists belong to the Theravada (Hinayana or ‘small vehicles’) tradition which is based on the earliest teachings of the Buddha and preserved in Sri Lanka after Mahayana Buddhism branched off in the second century B.C. The Theravada Buddhism is also the dominant school in Thailand and Cambodia.

Before Buddhism, the worship of animist spirits in Laos represents some of the regions most ancient religious practice. There is lot of animist shrines that can be found throughout the country. After Fa Ngum, founder of Lane Xang, established Buddhism as the state religion the worship of animist spirits continued to predominate for centuries prompting the devout Buddhist King Photisarath in 1527 to promulgate an edict banning the worship of spirits and construct Luang Prabang’s Wat Aham and Vientiane’s Wat Simuang on the sites of the afore-mentioned animist shrines.

There is a very minor group of Christians in the country, mainly in urban areas. Most hill tribes practice spirit worship or animism, but some have also adopted certain tenets of Buddhism and Confucianism. Religion played a major role in the culture of Laos-art, architecture, and literature were influenced by religion, and evidence of to support this claim can be seen in the country’s historical monuments.