The Temples of Vientiane

By Willy Thorn

A guide to the major historic royal Hindu & Buddhist sites of central Vientiane, Laos.

Includes 17 large temples, located near the Mekong River in the heart of the city — as well as the world-famous golden temple That Luang & several famous royal structures.

The histories of Vientiane (aka Vieng Chan) & the temples are interwoven with several famous Lao legends – including a mythical dragon, an ill-fated brutal invasion, and a short play (12 scenes) that brings life to the city’s original founding pillar.

The guide includes one long walking itinerary [with a map] for the downtown area.

Features:
. That Luang – a global landmark plated in pure gold
. That Dam – the ‘black stupa’; legendarily home to a seven-headed dragon
. Wat Sisaket – one of Laos’ most famous temples; home to more than 1o,ooo Buddha statues
. Wat Ong Teu – home to one of Laos’ largest bronze Buddha statues (hand-designed & cast by a king, no less) as well as some of the best carved golden ornament in all Southeast Asia
. Wat Hau Phra Kaew – once housed two of the most-famous Buddha statues in the world: the emerald jade Phra Kaew & the golden palladium Phra Bang
. Wat Si Mueang – built atop the ruins of one of Lao’s oldest temples (dating to the Hindu Khmer empire); also home to a beautiful love story of immense tragedy ... that still lives on today
. Wat Mixai - an iconic symbol of the city of Vieng Chan & a monument to her independence; built to celebrate victory over Taungoo invaders from Myanmar

Biographies:
. Fa Ngum –founder of Lan Xang; the first kingdom to unite modern Laos
. King Settathirah – the 16th century monarch who made Vieng Chan a capital & cultural epicenter
. Chao Anouwong – Laos’ greatest rebel leader

Also includes:
. hundreds of photos
. Naga water dragon art
. history, background & fast facts, for each temple
. information on famous Buddha statues & relics
. a brief regional history
. local wildlife & who to talk to
. free postcards

* GOLD guaranteed!!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Willy Thorn
• Release date: Aug 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005522117

Willy Thorn

Willy Thorn is a communications expert & artistic renaissance man. He is a journalist & copywriter, teacher, author & artist.He has lived many places, beginning with Milwaukee & Rome & Minnesota & central Wisconsin. Among his other homes are Washington DC & Baltimore, Chicago & the Twin Cities, St. Francis South Dakota, the Bay Area & Shanghai. He currently lives & works in Bangkok.Thorn has a Masters Degree in Journalism & has spent time as a Capitol Hill reporter & wire editor, sports writer, political columnist & arts critic. Other media endeavors include public relations campaigns, magazine feature writing, ghostwritten biographies & time on the radio – as a DJ & on-air host, play-by-play sports announcer & music promoter.He has spent nearly a decade as a language specialist for Craft Worldwide & as a copywriter & creative for McCann Worldgroup. He currently works as senior copywriter at Quo Global branding agency in Bangkok.He has won awards at Cannes Lions & been recognized for sports writing & political columns, magazine features, theatre scripts, religious publications & photography.Thorn is also a photographer & classical oil painter, trained thru the Corcoran Gallery in Washington DC. His artistic c.v. includes photography gallery shows; sculpting in Mamallapuram, India; concrete statuary at Wat Xieng Mouane, in Luang Prabang, Laos; and flower petal mosaics in Cagli, Italy.He is a Buddhist meditation instructor; trained thru Thailand’s renowned Willpower Institute. And he was even the rare foreigner to complete the entire six month course in spoken & written Thai. He currently sits as an advisor on the institute’s English Foreign Language subcommittee – where he translates books, helps develop outreach programs & occasionally lectures.He is the author of more than 3o full-length books & plays & proudly notes a Master’s Degree from Marquette University & books in both Washington's Library of Congress & the Vatican Archives in Rome.His catalog is varied & he has written extensively about a number of subjects — including sports, politics, religion, Buddhist philosophy & Asian history & art. One of his largest endeavors was documenting & cataloguing several hundred temples in Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Yangon, Vientiane & Kuala Lumpur.His catalog is available thru the following distributors: Amazon // Apple iBooks // Android Aldiko // Barnes & Noble // Sony // & Smashwords.His Milwaukee-centric column of sports poetry & prose — 'Run of tha Mil' — can be found at Milticket.blogspot.com

Book preview

an intro

Welcome to Vientiane

Vientiane is Laos’ largest city & the nation’s capital.

The city is also known as Vieng Chan

which is closer to its true Lao spelling.

It rests just across the Mekong River

from northeastern Thailand.

Its core lines the riverbanks

& the region is flat & lush & green & verdant

& an enormous mountain range

begins not too far

from the end of the city limits.

Vieng Chan has two meanings:

City of Sandalwood

& City of the Moon.

The region has long been known for its sandalwood

— which is a very sacred material across southern Asia.

The second name carries even deeper meaning

— in the oldest cultural traditions

both the Lao nation & her peoples

were born from the moon.

A large white moon is still the central image

on the country’s flag today.

Both words – sandalwood & moon — are taken from ancient Sanskrit.

They are, respectively: Candana & Candra.

Tho they are written differently

ຈັນທນ໌ & ຈັນທຣ໌

both are pronounced jahn or chan

[the second syllable in both is silent].

Vieng meanwhile, is literally written Weeyaeng

& translates to ‘walled in city.’

As noted, Vientiane is the French colonial spelling.

The literal Lao is pronounced closer to Wyng Juhn

& means perhaps ‘Walled in City of Sandalwood’

&/or ‘Capital City of the Moon’ [or both].

…

Some of the oldest human fossils in Southeast Asia

have been found in Laos, at Tam Pa Ling Cave.

And one of Asia’s most famous archeological sites

is also located northeast of Vieng Chan.

The Plain of Jars dates to the Iron Age (5oo bc – 5oo ad).

Vieng Chan’s known history begins about the same time.

It was first a small village, known as Bahn Nong Khantae Phiseua Nam.

But because of its prime location on the Mekong River, it grew to small city.

As the city grew it changed names.

It became known Bourichan or ‘City of Chan’

under the governor Phraya Chanthabouly Pasitthisak.

He became the region’s first known king

& later became known by the same name

— simply as Bourichan.

He ruled in the 5th century bc & may have descended

from the great Indian king Chandra Gupta II.

…

From the 7oos into the 14oos

most of modern Laos

was part of the Khmer Empire.

Vieng Chan was thus a Khmer city

for the majority of its known history.

Its most famous modern landmark

- the pagoda That Luang

was even built over a Khmer Hindu temple

located on the same site.

The Khmer Empire was enormous

& included all of modern Cambodia & Laos

plus much of Thailand, southern Vietnam

& slices of Malaysia, Myanmar & China.

As the Khmer declined Laos’ independence grew.

In the 14th century, a Lao prince named Fa Ngum

retook Vieng Chan with 1o,ooo soldiers

and many battalions of elephants.

He would go on to found Lan Xang

— or the Kingdom of 1 million Elephants.

Lan Xang remains the largest empire in Lao history.

Fa Ngum freed Vieng Chan in 1354

& made it a minor capital

& it remained as such for the next 2oo years.

The city’s central neighborhood, Pak Pasak

was a major hub of arts & culture & trade

for the kingdom.

…

In the 155os & 156os, Lan Xang came under enormous pressure

from both the Siamese & the Burmese.

King Settathirat effectively abandoned

the old capital of Luang Prabang to avoid invasion.

He quickly resettled in Vieng Chan

— making it a capital for the first time.

It would remain the nation capital for almost 22o years (156o-1779).

…

Later, King Saysettha [1534-1571] renamed the city

to: Nakorn Chanthabouly Sittha Thanakha Nahood Outtama Rajathani

The capital also flourished under King Souriyavongsa Thamikarat.

He lived 1638-169o & had an extensive reign.

…

In the late 177os, the Kingdom of Siam invaded

under the warrior & general who would become King Thaksin.

The Siamese pillaged a great deal of treasure

including the golden palladium Phra Bang

& the emerald Buddha statue Phra Kaew.

They did keep most of the city in-tact, tho;

preferring to use it as an eastern sub-capital.

The Siamese later returned, however, in 1828

& after putting down a massive rebellion

led by the Lao general Chao Anouwong

they decimated the city

burnt most of it to the ground

& raided & looted

the last of the treasure & artifacts.

The city was abandoned

& most citizens were either captured

by the Siamese

or fled into the mountains

And so Vieng Chan entered its most tragic historical era;

a desolate & forlorn ghost town, for more than a century.

It was reborn as a capital in 1889, with the arrival of the French.

They rebuilt the city, restored many historic sites

& rebuilt the Buddhist monuments

& also added paved roads

& added classic French streetscapes

& some exemplary colonial architecture.

Unfortunately, the French also imported massive numbers

of Vietnamese into Vieng Chan to ‘repopulate’ it.

…

This plan was cut off by the Japanese during World War II.

A massive civil war followed the world war

& communist forces

- waving the flag of independence

fought off the Japanese

the French

the Americans

Tribal