Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By quietly taking a seat on the floor you can observe the
rituals
of devotees seeking answers
or favours. Two baby-sized, crude images resting on their own pillows are the main focus of
the worshippers' attention. After a question is posed or a favour requested, the devotee at-
tempts to lift one of the images while kneeling towards the altar. Being able to lift the image
three times over one's head is considered an auspicious sign. Worshippers whose wishes are
granted must return and appease the guardian spirit with an offering; marigolds, coconuts and
bananas are particularly popular tokens of gratitude.
The grounds and around
The
monastery grounds
surrounding the
sim
contain a dozen or so brightly painted sculp-
tures of animals, Buddhist-Hindu deities and mythological figures from Lao legends, making
this a favourite playground for local kids.
On a small wedge of land outside the south wall of the monastery towers a monolithic
statue
ofKingSisavangVong
, who reigned from 1904 to 1959. The statue survived the revolution,
having been executed by a Soviet sculptor and presented to the Lao government in 1972 after
a visit to the Soviet Union by King Sisavang Vatthana. Ironically, within a few short years of
the statue being erected in 1974, the royalist government collapsed, and the newly installed
communist government banished King Sisavang Vatthana and his family to a cave near the
Vietnamese border, where they all perished. A plaque that was once attached to the pedestal
has long been missing and, if asked, many locals will only be able to say that the massive
statue depicts “an old king”.
Patouxai
At the northern end of Lane Xang Ave ∙ Daily 8am-4.30pm ∙ 3000K
It has been said that, along with coffee and baguettes, the Lao inherited a taste for pompous
town planning from the French.
Lane Xang Avenue
, leading off north from Setthathilat
Road, was to be Vientiane's Champs Elysées and
Patouxai
, 1km from the Presidential
Palace, its Arc de Triomphe. While it would be impossible to mistake Lane Xang Avenue
for Paris's most famous thoroughfare, if you were to stand at a fair distance and squint, you
might be able to convince yourself that Patouxai resembles its Parisian inspiration.
Popularly known as
anusawali
(Lao for “monument”), this massive reinforced concrete
monument was built in the late 1950s to commemorate casualties of war on the side of the
Royal Lao government. The structure, said to have been completed with concrete donated by
the US government for the construction of an airport, has been jokingly referred to as “the
vertical runway”. If the story is true, then Patouxai is also the most notable structure left to
show for the millions of dollars of aid that were pumped into Laos during the early years
of American involvement in Indochina. After the revolution, the arch was given its current
name, which literally means “Victory Gate”, and partially redecorated - some Hindu icono-
