‘Lanna’ is
often associated, referred to and described as ‘Northern Thai’ traditions,
customs, folk, art, music, and culture—a past glorious limb of
the prevailing Siamese-Thai world. Though sharing many parallels with
the Siamese (Thai), Laotian, and even Burmese backgrounds, styles and
traditions, the Lanna civilization has harnessed a truly unique cultural
character throughout more than a millennium of existence.
The word Lanna is actually two words combined: ‘Lan’ ล้าน,
meaning ‘a million’ and ‘Na’ นา meaning ‘rice
field’. Thus, Lanna literally translates to ‘a million rice fields’--a
reference to the rich agricultural state of the region encompassing the Golden
Triangle area of present day Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, where the Lanna civilization
and kingdom, or A-na-chak Lanna flourished over the centuries both as an autonomous
and vassal state to Burmese, Thai, and Lao kingdoms--up until the early 20th
century, when Lanna was finally annexed once and for all by the Kingdom of Siam.
Today, remnants of Lanna culture, language, art, and identity are still strongly
apparent in the people and way of life in Northern Thailand and North-Western
Laos, and though Lanna thrive not as a powerful and influential kingdom as it
once did, it is far from faint as the Lanna legacy and heritage prosper into
the future.
