Beyond the northern trail
Laos is a predominantly Theravada Buddhist country, and the faith shapes daily life through temple festivals, monastic education and the practice of making merit. Most visitors reach the north first. This piece looks at Vientiane in the middle of the country and at Champasak in the far south, and then at a few quieter places. The north, with its Luang Prabang temples and morning alms round, is covered elsewhere.
The history of Lao Buddhism is only partly documented. Dates given for early buildings are often traditional, and many sites were damaged in nineteenth-century wars and later rebuilt, so treat precise figures with caution.
Pha That Luang, Vientiane
Pha That Luang (“Great Sacred Stupa”) is the national symbol of Laos and appears on its state emblem. A tall, gilded stupa stands inside a walled enclosure, surrounded by cloister-like walls and with smaller stupas around it. Tradition links an earlier structure to a much older period and attributes a major rebuilding to King Setthathirath in the sixteenth century. The monument was badly damaged in the early nineteenth century during conflict with Siam and was restored in the twentieth century. Take this sequence as an outline, not a settled chronology.
The stupa follows an architectural pattern found in many Buddhist countries, a form discussed under the parts of a stupa. Legend, which cannot be verified, holds that it houses a relic of the Buddha. Devotees come to make offerings and walk around the monument, in the clockwise manner described under circumambulation practice.
The main festival, the That Luang Festival, is held around the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. It draws large crowds, with processions and fairs. Dates change each year, so check an official source.
Other temples in Vientiane
Wat Si Saket. Built in the early nineteenth century, it is notable for surviving the sacking of the city in 1828, and for its cloister walls lined with niches holding thousands of small Buddha images. Its age and survival make it historically important, though it is now a museum-like site. Note any posted rules about behaviour and photography.
Haw Phra Kaew. A former royal temple that once housed the Emerald Buddha before the image was taken to Siam. It now serves as a museum. The story of the image is covered in the account of the Emerald Buddha in Thailand.
Xieng Khuan (Buddha Park). A sculpture park outside the city, begun in the late 1950s by a charismatic spiritual teacher who also built a similar park in Thailand. Concrete figures draw on both Hindu and Buddhist imagery. It is more eclectic than a traditional temple, and visitors should view it as a modern creation, not an ancient site.
More of the capital’s temples are described in a regional piece on Vientiane temples.
Wat Phu, Champasak
In the south, near Champasak and the Mekong, the ruins of Wat Phu lie at the foot of a mountain. The site is listed by UNESCO as a cultural landscape, inscribed in 2001, and includes a series of terraces, causeways and sanctuaries rising up the slope. A natural spring on the hillside is traditionally important.
Wat Phu was built as a Hindu site, with strong associations with Shiva, by the Khmer empire, with origins that predate Angkor and construction continuing over several centuries. As Theravada Buddhism spread through the region, it was adapted for Buddhist worship, and today Buddha images are present and local people hold ceremonies there. This pattern, in which a Hindu temple later served Buddhist devotees, also appears at Angkor Wat Hindu to Buddhist, a transition worth reading about for comparison. The relationship between Lao Buddhists and Khmer ruins is complex, and visitors might hear different local explanations.
A major festival takes place at the site around the full moon of the third lunar month, typically in February. Climbing the stairs is demanding in hot weather, and some stone steps are uneven. Bring water, allow enough time, and check current conditions and opening hours.
Lesser-known places
A handful of other areas reward visitors who go slowly:
- Don Khong and the Four Thousand Islands region (Si Phan Don). Island temples in the Mekong in the far south, where life moves at river pace.
- Savannakhet and Thakhek on the Mekong. Provincial towns with wats and a stupa in the region, and a community of Lao and Vietnamese Buddhists.
- Village wats. Almost every Lao village has a wat serving as school, meeting hall and place of worship. Some have cloisters, painted walls with scenes from the Jataka tales or the life of the Buddha, and a drum that calls monks to chanting. These are the places most likely to give a feel of Lao Buddhist customs as lived.
Because visitors may be rare, village wats call for extra courtesy. Ask before wandering around, accept an invitation if offered and keep any donation modest and discreet.
Respectful visiting and safety
- Dress modestly: covered shoulders and knees. Women often use a shawl inside temples.
- Remove shoes before entering a hall and do not point feet toward images or monks.
- Do not touch monks, and women should not hand objects directly to them.
- Ask before photographing people and avoid flash during rituals.
- Rivers and roads can be affected by the rainy season, and heat can be intense in the hot months.
- Government travel advice for Laos can note concerns including unexploded ordnance in some rural areas. Stick to established paths and check current advice.
- Opening times, entry fees and festival dates vary; use current official sources.
Laos is not a place to hurry. A single visit to a stupa at dusk, with offerings from local women and the sound of chanting, can say more about its Buddhism than a long itinerary.