Palat Un, "Lotus Flower Offering"

First in a series of old Dharma song recordings in the public domain I am uploading here to share.





A young novice monk, no older than 15, mischievously began to climb up the sacred cetiya at Vatt Unnalom, Phnom Penh, home of a relic of the Buddha’s eyebrow. He had, in fact, already been kicked out of the temple the night before for misbehavior, but he climbed up the sacred monument in one last act of defiance. Standing still for a moment, he gazed out on to the monastery compound and began to chant a sacred text in the smot style. His magnificent voice — shrill, yet full of rich vibrato and ornamentation — rang out over the whole temple in the early morning air.

My teacher, Prum Ut, who told, me this story, recalled that after that fateful morning climb, the young novice (named Palat Un បាឡាត់ អ៊ុន) was asked to stay in the monastery, so beautiful was his voice and so astonishing his talent for smot chanting. The mischievous boy grew up to be the most famous Dharma song master of the 20th century, and despite his early transgressions of the monastic discipline, remains celebrated in Cambodian Buddhist circles to this day.

Although few people survive today that remember hearing his voice live, Palat Un's reputation lives on through the cassette tapes that proliferated after his death in the mid-20th century. He was not known to have written any texts himself, but his powerful tenor voice and creative re-interpretation of Dharma songs exerted a significant influence on those who came after him. Certain Dharma songs, including the one embedded in this post, “Lotus Flower Offering”(បទុមថ្វាយផ្កា ហៅ បូទុំថ្វាយផ្កា), were popularized by his beautiful interpretations of their melodies. In the 1990's, Palat Un's reputation began to grow again as audio cassettes of his recitations began to surface in the markets of Phnom Penh and in networks of Dharma song teachers and students. The recordings were apparently copied from old French vinyl records, and their quality is correspondingly poor. But for most Dharma song teachers and students today, such cassettes are the only access they have to Palat Un's vocal technique and artistry.