Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
age, which is believed to have originated in Sri Lanka, had arrived in Laos in 1353 from
Angkor, the Khmer deploying it in an attempt to spread Buddhism in the new kingdom of
Lan Xang and to give legitimacy to the first king, Fa Ngum, who was the son-in-law of the
Khmer king. In 1545 it was taken to Vientiane, which was being prepared as the kingdom's
next capital. When the Siamese under King Taksin invaded Laos in 1778, Chao Phraya
Chakri took both the Emerald Buddha and Phra Bang back to Thonburi, thereby relieving
Laos of its spiritual protection and its sovereign independence. However, political prob-
lems that arose in Siam were attributed to the image and in 1782 it was returned to the
Laotians. In 1828 the Siamese captured Phra Bang again when Vientiane was sacked, and
General Bodindecha renovated Wat Sampluem to house the image, as it was thought to
be inauspicious to have both the Phra Bang Buddha and the Emerald Buddha both within
the confines of the old city.
he ubosot , rather than facing east, as is traditional, actually faces west, to align the
Phra Bang image with that of the Emerald Buddha, in Wat Phra Kaew. Nonetheless, the
image once more seemed to bring political misfortune and Rama IV returned it to Laos
in 1867. Since that time it has been kept in Luang Prabang, the town that takes its name
from the image. A Buddha image named Phra Nak was moved from a shrine in the Grand
Palace as a replacement. Today, Wat Chakrawat is probably best known for its crocodiles.
General Bodindecha had cut a small waterway from the river to create a pond in the
temple grounds, and the practice of keeping the reptiles here began about half a century
ago when one was found in the river outside the temple. The original was stuffed and is
displayed in a glass case beside the pond, where a couple of live ones are kept. To the right
of the compound, just inside the gate, is a small wiharn with an outer wall decorated in a
very unusual black-and-gold pattern, the kind of styling more commonly found on interi-
or walls or roofs. Next to the black wiharn is a larger wiharn in a more traditional style.
On the left of the entrance is a stairway leading to a platform containing a mondop topped
with a rather understated prang , its plainness drawing emphasis to the standing Buddha
images facing out from the four sides of the prang . The temple's large, all-white ubosot is
located opposite. A grotto in the grounds has a black shape referred to as the Buddha's
shadow, possibly a reference to the departed Phra Bang, and worshippers place gold leaf
offerings on the shape. In a neighbouring niche is a small image of a fat monk, commem-
orating the legend of the monk who was so handsome that the girls wouldn't leave him
alone, and in order to discourage them he ate himself spherical.
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