Pha That Luang

Pha That Luang, the Great Sacred Stupa, rises a few kilometres from the centre of Vientiane as a mountain of gold: a tapering central spire some 45 metres high, set on a broad stepped base and surrounded by a forest of slender, gilded secondary spires. It is the national symbol of Laos and its most revered monument, and the effect is best at the ends of the day, when low sun turns the whole structure from brass to flame against the sky.

Lao tradition takes its story back to the 3rd century BCE, when missionaries said to have been sent by the Indian emperor Ashoka enshrined a relic of the Buddha, believed to be a piece of his breastbone, on this spot. The monument in its present outline goes back to 1566, when King Setthathirath moved his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane and raised a great stupa here. A Dutch envoy who saw it in 1641 described an enormous pyramid capped with gold leaf.

The design is a carefully ordered climb in three levels, square in plan and diminishing as they rise, from a base of around 68 by 69 metres to a top tier about 30 metres across. The stupa suffered badly when Siamese armies sacked Vientiane in 1828. A first French restoration around 1900, based on drawings made in 1867 by the explorer-architect Louis Delaporte, was judged a failure, and the monument was rebuilt in the 1930s in the form seen today. Temples stand on its flanks, and the grounds are a living place of worship.

The stupa comes most fully to life during Boun That Luang, held over the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. Monks and lay pilgrims gather from across the country; a procession of wax castles makes its way from Wat Si Muang, and at the climax the faithful walk three times around the stupa carrying candles, incense and flowers.

Getting there

Pha That Luang stands about 4 km from the centre of Vientiane, at the end of That Luang Road. Wattay International Airport (VTE) is about 7 km away. It is a short ride by tuk-tuk or taxi from the city centre.