The holy water-well

      When we enter to the Akha village, the first thing that we will see is the village gate or the Akha people calls that “Lor-Khong " This gate protect the bad spirits from coming into the Akha village. They will establish the village gates both at the north and the south of the village. Near the village gate, a traditional Akha swing is located there. There will be celebration once a year during the end of August and the beginning of September. Besides the village gates and Akha swing, there is an unusual holy pond in a typical Akha village. The water in pond comes from the tree roots from the surrounding trees and it is not consumable water source for the villagers. This holy pond is only accessible when there is traditional ceremony.

Traditional religious ceremonies are important to the Akha tribe. The holy pool is what the Akha people call as“E-Lor-Kor”, which means a pure water source that belongs to the Akha people. This water pond (well) is the sacred place that Akha community built it for water source which is used during religious ceremonies. The holy pond is small in size and water will flow out soon after the Akha people dig the trench for this pond. The traditional Akha people call the water “E-Sor”, which means the holy, pure water. ‘Lor’ means religious ceremonies of Akha people and ‘Kor’ means the pond. Therefore, “E-Lor-Kor” means the holy pond that will be providing holy water to be used during religious traditional Akha ceremonies.

      A traditional Akha woman who is a housekeeper will dress beautifully in their traditional Akha costumes. She will then be accompanied by a couple of other women to scoop water using bottle gourds from the holy pond for ceremonial usage. Upon reaching the pond, they will need to wash their face, hands, and foots cleanly before getting access to scoop the holy water. It is because the Akha people believe that it is important to be pure and holy when setting up ceremonies. The holy pond is regards as a holy place in the village and insults and any bad deed is prohibited. No one should be allowed to bath in this holy pond because it is believed to be offending the holy spirits in the village. The pond is considered to be sacred and there will be maintenance to this pond annually during the month of May. Sacrifices are also made throughout the year.