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Intellectual Cultural Heritage
49
Mo Lam Phuen
Mo Lam
is the traditional art of singing folk songs and
performing folk spectacles of the Northeastern people. The
word “
Mo Lam
” has two meanings: (1) The skilled performer
of the verses that were created in the northeastern dialect of
the Thai language; (2) The traditional folk art of performing
or singing of the northeastern people.
The origin of
Mo Lam
is obscure, owing to the lack of
written record. It is estimated to originate from the prayers
or invocations to the deities and spirits and to be associated
wi th the old bel ief in
Phi Fa
(dei t ies) ,
Phi Thaen
(deities) and
Phi Banphaburut
(the ancestors’ spirit). It might
have originated from the custom of reading the traditional
folk literature in the palm-leaf books and the Buddhist
monks’ religious sermons, or it might have originated from
the courtship ritual in various occasions.
Mo Lam
is subdivided into two types:
Mo Lam
for
entertainment, such as
Mo Lam Phuen
,
Mo Lam Klon
,
Mo Lam Rueang,
Mo Lam Phloen
, each of which has
different characteristics; and
Mo Lam
for rites, ceremonies
and r i tuals, such as
Mo Lam Phi Fa
, which has two
objectives–to heal the sick and to predict the weather.
Mo Lam Phuen
is a narrative singing–singing about
folk or religious stories. The verses are sung as a solo part
mostly for a male singer and are accompanied by a khaen
(a kind of reed mouth organ). The stories are taken from
literature, for example,
Karaket
,
Sinchai
tales from the
Jataka
tales (tales from the
Jataka
or Buddhist Sacred
Scriptures). The singer uses
pha khao ma
(a multi-purpose
rectangular piece of cloth for men, used as loincloth, wrap-
around skirt, scarf, headscarf, sash or towel etc.) as a prop
and costume in the portrayal of the different characters of
the story, such as the hero, the heroine, the warrior etc.
Mo Lam Phuen
serves the community’s way of life
and has significant entertainment value to the community.
It is the repository of stories, adages, wisdom and philosophy
of the northeastern communities that have passed down
through generations.
Today
Mo Lam
Phuen
is disappearing from the
northeastern region as fewer people carry on the tradition,
which requires long period of training before the singer can
memorise all the stories and skilfully interpret the roles of the
characters in the stories to entertain and capture the
audience’s attention.
A prominent
Mo Lam Phuen
singer today is National
Artist
Mo Lam
Thong Mak Chanthalue.