Vat Visoun Narath
ວັດວິຊຸນ ນະຣາຊ
Built by King Visoun in 1513 to house the Prabang Buddha which stayed here until 1705. The grounds had previously been the rice fields of Phou Ngeu and Nya Ngeu, the guardian spirits of Luang Prabang. The original sim was made with ornately decorated timber and was one of the most impressive buildings in the town. Its double roof was supported by twelve huge teak pillars about 30m in height which had been taken from Luang Prabang's northern states. The building is only known to us today from a drawing made by Ernest Delaporte, a member of the Mekong Expedition that came to Luang Prabang in 1867. The temple was destroyed in the Haw invasion of 1887 and subsequently rebuilt in 1898 using brick and plaster, although the main doors with gilded carvings of Vishnu are believed to have survived from the original building.
Vat Visoun twice housed the highly venerated Prabang Buddha image from 1513 until 1705 and again between 1893 and 1894. Today the main Buddha image, Phra Luang, is the largest in Luang Prabang.
Prince Phetsarath used the sim as a museum for many old wooden Buddha images that he found at other temples, as well as old Angkor remnants. Whilst some artefacts have been moved to the National Museum many can still be found at the temple.
Also inside the sim one will find the intricately carved How Tien screen donated by Chao Maha Boun Khoung (1857-1920) the Upahat or Viceroy. It depicts Hanuman the white monkey fighting with Nilaphat the black monkey, during the building of a dyke across the sea that would allow Rama's armies to invade the island of Lanka. Above them trying to stop the fighting is the monkey king Sugriva. [Ancient Luang Prabang & Laos]
At the front of the monastery grounds stands the unusual That Pathoum stupa, "Stupa of the Great Lotus" erected in 1515 by Queen Phan Tee Xieng, wife of King Visoun, to cover the pond Nong Xua. Built in Sinhalese style this 35metre high stupa is more commonly referred to as That Makmo, "The Watermelon Stupa", because of its shape. It was destroyed during the Haw invasion of 1887 and its reconstruction was completed in 1932.
Vat Visoun twice housed the highly venerated Prabang Buddha image from 1513 until 1705 and again between 1893 and 1894. Today the main Buddha image, Phra Luang, is the largest in Luang Prabang.
Prince Phetsarath used the sim as a museum for many old wooden Buddha images that he found at other temples, as well as old Angkor remnants. Whilst some artefacts have been moved to the National Museum many can still be found at the temple.
Also inside the sim one will find the intricately carved How Tien screen donated by Chao Maha Boun Khoung (1857-1920) the Upahat or Viceroy. It depicts Hanuman the white monkey fighting with Nilaphat the black monkey, during the building of a dyke across the sea that would allow Rama's armies to invade the island of Lanka. Above them trying to stop the fighting is the monkey king Sugriva. [Ancient Luang Prabang & Laos]
At the front of the monastery grounds stands the unusual That Pathoum stupa, "Stupa of the Great Lotus" erected in 1515 by Queen Phan Tee Xieng, wife of King Visoun, to cover the pond Nong Xua. Built in Sinhalese style this 35metre high stupa is more commonly referred to as That Makmo, "The Watermelon Stupa", because of its shape. It was destroyed during the Haw invasion of 1887 and its reconstruction was completed in 1932.
