Heavenly start to new year

Blessed beauties: Douangmixay and the other contestants taking part in the annual Laos New Year celebrations at the Wat Xien Thong temple in Luang Prabang. — AFP

Luang Prabang: Wearing gold-embroidered silk outfits, faces thick with make-up, a line-up of seven Laotian beauty queens greet a sea of cheering supporters at the annual New Year beauty contest in Luang Prabang.

But this is no regular pageant: the contestants are stand-ins for the seven blessed daughters of Laos’ legendary heavenly King Kabin­la­phom competing for top honours in the country’s most famous beauty contest.