Phra That Luang - Laos national symbol

According to the Lao people, Phra That Luang was built in the 3rd century as an Indic temple. Buddhist missionaries, sent by the Emperor Ashoka of India, including Bury Chan and five Arahata monks, who are beliefed to have brought a holy relic of Lord Buddha which resides in the stupa. Phra That Luang was rebuilt in the 13th century as a Khmer temple.

In the mid of the 16th century, Lane Xang King Setthathirat relocated his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. He ordered the re-construction of Phra That Luang in 1566.

Phra That Luang was rebuilt in the northeastern outskirts of Vientiane, about 4 km from the center. Phra That Luang's bases had a length of 69 meters each and was 45 meters high. The main stupa was surrounded by 30 smaller stupas.


In 1641, the Dutch envoy Gerrit van Wuysoff visited Vientiane. He was received by the Lao King at the temple site of Phra That Luang, where he was received in a magnificent ceremony. Gerrit van Wuysoff was impressed by the "enormous pyramid and the top was covered with gold leaf weighing about a thousand pounds".

However, the Phra That Luang stupa was repeatedly plundered by Burmese, Siamese and Chinese invaders.

Phra That Luang was heavily damaged by the Siamese invasion in 1828 and left abandoned. In 1900, Phra That Luang was restored by the French colonialists to its original design based on the drawings from the French architect and explorer Louis Delaporte.

The final reconstruction work was done in the 1930s.

Phra That Luang is revered in a festival each year during November, where laymen honor monks with food offerings. Phra That Luang is the most important symbol of the Lao state and its people.

Wat Phra That Phanom (วัดพระธาตุพนม)

Wat Phra That Phanom (วัดพระธาตุพนม) is a sacred chedi, located in a small village with the same name on the border of the Mekong River, in the southern part of Nakhon Phanom Province, northeastern Thailand or

better known as Isaan. The temple is around a kilometer from the banks of the mighty Mekong River located on a small sacred hill called Phu Kamphra.

According to legends the That Phanom chedi contains Lord Buddha's breast bone (Urangkha That). With this relic, the Phra That Phanom chedi is one of the most important Theravada Buddhist structures in the upper Isaan region and much revered by Isaan and Lao people alike.

In the tradition of Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand it is commonly believed that Lord Buddha made a journey throughout the whole region to visit sacred and holy sites of earlier Buddha beings and also to support the emerging Buddhist monastic tradition in Southeast Asia. This travel were made by Lord Buddha shortly before his demise. However, no historical evidence profs that such a journey ever took place.

A collection of old manuscripts better known as the Phra That Phanom Chronicles tell that the first shrine was erected shortly after Lord Buddha's death. Scientist and Archaeologists date the earliest structures between the sixth and tenth centuries. While the present form of Wat Phra That Phanom was established by the Lao kings of Vientiane in the fifteenth and sixteenth century.

The main structure of the holy pagoda is constructed on a square bases which is 12 metres wide. The spire is pure gold and weigths 110 kg. The center piece of the pagoda itself is 57m high That. In August 11, 1975 at 7 pm, in a stormy and very rainy night, the chedi collapsed and fell down. Because of its imense importance, funds were raised and the chedi was rebuilt under the supervison of the Fine Arts Department and the support of his Majesty the King of Thailand.

Every year a week long festival is held to honor Wat Phra That Phanom.