Vat Sangkhalok (Vat Sisavan Tevalok)
ວັດສັງຄະໂລກ (ວັດສີສະຫວັນເທວະໂລກ)
Officially called Vat Sisavan Tevalok (World of Celestial Deities Monastery) but more commonly known as Vat Sangkhalok (World of the Conch Shell Monastery). This monastery was founded by King Phothisarath in 1527 and marks the ritual southern boundary of Luang Prabang, adjacent to the Nam Dong river.
An inscription on a stone tablet used to be fixed to the wall behind the main Buddha image (Now in Luang Prabang National Museum). Written in Kham script and dated mid-April 1527, it describes the founding of the temple and how Maha Sangharat Chao Sichanto was entrusted to exorcise the place of its evil spirit. This is possibly the primary historical source for King Phothisarat's famous edict banning the worship of phi which is related in the Nithan Khun Borom chronicles of Luang Prabang. A similar stele inscription was found at Vat Ban Sing [Lorrillard, 2022].
According to tradition the Prabang Buddha image stopped here when it first entered the Kingdom of Luang Prabang. The sim was destroyed by a storm in 1883 and subsequently rebuilt in c.1905. The abbot at this time was Pha Oun Heuane.
Before 1975 Vat Sangkhalok played an important role in Phi Mai (Lao New Year) ceremonies. On the second day of the new year the king would travel down river to Vat Sangkhalok where he would both ceremonially pour water over the Buddha image there as well as providing the opportunity for the monks, officials and lay people to make merit by having waters poured over himself.
An inscription on a stone tablet used to be fixed to the wall behind the main Buddha image (Now in Luang Prabang National Museum). Written in Kham script and dated mid-April 1527, it describes the founding of the temple and how Maha Sangharat Chao Sichanto was entrusted to exorcise the place of its evil spirit. This is possibly the primary historical source for King Phothisarat's famous edict banning the worship of phi which is related in the Nithan Khun Borom chronicles of Luang Prabang. A similar stele inscription was found at Vat Ban Sing [Lorrillard, 2022].
According to tradition the Prabang Buddha image stopped here when it first entered the Kingdom of Luang Prabang. The sim was destroyed by a storm in 1883 and subsequently rebuilt in c.1905. The abbot at this time was Pha Oun Heuane.
Before 1975 Vat Sangkhalok played an important role in Phi Mai (Lao New Year) ceremonies. On the second day of the new year the king would travel down river to Vat Sangkhalok where he would both ceremonially pour water over the Buddha image there as well as providing the opportunity for the monks, officials and lay people to make merit by having waters poured over himself.
