Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THAT LUANG FESTIVAL
In the days leading up to the full moon in November, the great That Luang stupa in Vi-
entiane comes to resemble the centrepiece of a fairground, with street vendors setting up
booths in the open spaces around it. The week-long
That Luang Festival
then kicks off
with a mass alms-giving to hundreds of monks and a procession from Wat Simuang to That
Luang. Over the next few days, bands and performances occupy a stage near the stupa, and
tikhi, a game resembling field hockey, is played. On the last evening, the whole city shows
up to process with offerings around That Luang.
The stupas and cloisters
The tapering
goldenspire
of the main stupa is 45m tall and rests on a plinth of stylized lotus
petals, which crowns a mound reminiscent of the first-century BC Buddhist stupa at San-
