Tag Archives: Wat Si Muang

What Wat?

Thursday’s Vientiane adventure with Tony N. and Rand included stops at two local Buddhist temples: Si Muan and Si Saket.
Wat Si Muang
Various legends surround the original construction of Wat Si Muang, but here’s the gist of the story: King Setthathirat moved his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in 1563, so a group of sages selected a site for the big stone pillar that would become the home of the city’s guardian spirit. The pillar was suspended with ropes over a large hole in anticipation of a human sacrifice to the spirit. Finally, a pregnant woman leapt (was pushed?) in to the hole (sometimes with with her horse or a young monk, depending on who’s telling the story), and the pillar was released. Many people believe offerings at the temple will bring good luck to women trying to conceive.
Wat Si Saket
This temple was built in 1818 by Lao prince Chao Anou. He later rebelled against Siam’s influence in Laos, bringing Siamese wrath and destruction to Vientiane. For some reason, they spared Wat Si Saket, which was restored by the French in the 20s and 30s. The wat’s perimeter walls feature niches with more than 2,000 little silver and ceramic Buddhas with another 300+ standing and sitting Buddha statues on the steps below the niches. Some date back to the 15th century.
In one small space, there’s a pile of damaged, mostly headless Buddhas from the 1828 Siamese-Lao war.
I’m a wee bit obsessed with nagas, the serpent deity, so I loved the 5-meter long “haang song nam pha.” The whimsical naga stands at the back door of the wat’s ordination hall, and it’s really just a fancy wooden watering can for the ceremonial cleansing of Buddhist images.

Disclaimer: My camera battery was dead, so these shots were taken with my phone.