CONTEXTS - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 423

the Pha Bang , is also a standing Buddha, this time with arms held out in a blocking gesture,
known as the “Dispelling Fear” pose.
One mudra in particular is especially popular with the Lao. This is found on Buddhas sitting
in a half-lotus position, with the left hand resting palm-upward on the image's lap and the
right hand extended down and touching the earth with the fingertips. Known as “Victory
Over Mara”, this pose commemorates the historic Buddha's triumph over Mara the Tempter,
a Satan-like figure that tried unsuccessfully to distract the Buddha from his path to enlight-
enment.
The best place to see sculpted images of the Buddha is on an altar in a Buddhist temple's
main sim . Typically, a massive central image, usually constructed of brick and stucco, is
flanked by numerous smaller images cast from bronze or carved from hardwood. In Luang
Prabang, the Pha Bang undeniably gets the most attention, but the superb reclining Buddha
enshrined in a small “chapel” at Wat Xieng Thong is perhaps the best example of Lao sculp-
ture to be found in the country.
Temple architecture
Of all Lao architectural elements, the that , or stupa , is probably easiest for the visitor to ap-
preciate. This is due mainly to the fact that it is at once readily recognizable and varied in
design. The concept of the stupa - a monument atop a reliquary containing sacred relics of the
Buddha - originated in India and spread throughout Asia. In each country where Buddhism
took root, the local architects and artisans put their own ideas to work when designing a
stupa, and thus the bell-shaped stupas of Sri Lanka have little in common stylistically with
the multistoreyed “pagoda” stupas found in China and Japan. Vientiane's That Luang stupa,
the national symbol of Laos, is a fusion of aggressive angles and graceful curves that make it
quite different from designs predominant in neighbouring countries (although stupas in this
style can also be found in the northeast of Thailand where ethnic Lao predominate). This
design of stupa is probably the greatest single Lao contribution to Buddhist architecture.
Within a typical Lao wat there are a number of buildings serving different functions, but it
is the sim , the structure in which the monastery's principal Buddha image is enshrined, that
gets the most attention from Lao architects and artisans. Lao sim have two main styles: the
Vientianestyle owes much to the Bangkok school of architecture, while the LuangPrabang
style shares characteristics with that of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. From a distance,
the difference between the two styles is easily discerned. The roof of a Vientiane-style sim is
high and steep, while a Luang Prabang-style roof gently slopes nearly to the ground.
Variations on sim design were produced by the Phuan and Tai Leu ethnic groups. The rare
Xieng Khuang style , once found in the province of the same name, is low and squat, de-
signed to withstand the weather of the windswept Plain of Jars. The handiwork of the Phuan
people, this style barely survived Laos's violent history - the only remaining example lies