Wat Xieng Thong

Interesting facts

When Black Flag Haw forces sacked Luang Prabang in 1887, their leader Đèo Văn Trị, a former student monk here, spared the temple and made it his headquarters.

The name means "Temple of the Golden City", after Xieng Thong, the old name of the town that later became Luang Prabang.

Not long after founding the temple, King Setthathirath moved the capital of Lan Xang to Vientiane, reportedly unhappy with how little flat land Xieng Thong offered.

The gilded miniature pagodas along the roof ridge, called dok so fa, signal rank: the more numerous and elaborate they are, the more important the monastery.

The glittering glass mosaics on the outer walls of the small Red Chapel were created around 1957, when the Buddhist world marked 2,500 years since the Buddha.

The tall carriage hall went up in the early 1960s to shelter the gilded funeral carriage of King Sisavang Vong, its prow crowded with carved naga serpent heads.

The carving of the funeral carriage hall is credited to the Lao master craftsman Thit Tanh, who also produced decorative work for the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang.

In 1928, King Sisavang Vong persuaded the visiting French Governor General that France, as protector of Laos, should pay part of the cost of restoring the temple.

For all its fame, the main sim is compact: about 22.4 metres long and only 6.8 metres wide, with roofs rising to roughly 15 metres.

Why it is worth it

At the tip of the Luang Prabang peninsula, where the Nam Khan runs into the Mekong, stands the monastery that most people regard as the finest expression of the Luang Prabang style of temple building. Wat Xieng Thong was founded in 1559–60 by King Setthathirath, and for four centuries it was the royal temple of the kingdom: a place of coronations, royal worship and the great festivals of the city, under the patronage of the court until 1975.

The main ordination hall, the sim, is the reason to come. Its layered roofs sweep down low over the walls in long, overlapping planes, so that the building seems to crouch close to the ground, and along the ridge runs a row of small gilded spires. Inside, the walls and pillars are lacquered red and black and covered in gold stencilled scenes from myth and legend, while dharma wheels decorate the ceiling. Walk round to the back and the rear wall carries the temple's most famous image, a "tree of life" worked in coloured glass mosaic that glitters against the deep red ground.

Around the sim the compound gathers a set of smaller buildings, each with its own character. A small chapel shelters a reclining Buddha dating from the temple's foundation, a statue that travelled to the Paris Exhibition of 1931 and only came home in 1964. A tall hall, around 12 metres high, was built to house the royal funeral carriage and urns, and its carved and gilded facade is a showpiece of later Lao craftsmanship. A library added in 1880, a drum tower of 1961 and the monks' quarters complete the ensemble. The temple escaped the sacking of the city in 1887, and the latest major restoration in 2012–13 cleaned and repainted much of the decoration.

Getting there

The temple sits at the northern end of the old town of Luang Prabang, about 1 km from the centre, and is easily reached on foot along the main street of the peninsula. Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ) lies about 3 km away.

From the encyclopaedia

Wat Xieng Thong is a Buddhist temple on the northern tip of the peninsula of Luang Prabang, Laos. Built between 1559 and 1560 by King Setthathirath, Wat Xieng Thong is one of the most important of Lao monasteries and remains a significant monument to the spirit of religion, royalty and traditional art.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wat Xieng Thong

Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia