Description of the attraction
On the territory of the Royal Palace Museum, there is one of the most attractive sacred monuments of Luang Prabang - the Khao Pha Bang Temple, which means “Royal Temple” in Lao. It was erected to store the sacred image of Buddha Phra Bang - the most revered in the country.
Although at first glance the temple appears to be old, in fact it was recently built in the traditional Lao style. Its construction began in 1963 and was completed in 2006. Construction work was halted when the Communist Party came to power. The construction of the temple was continued only in the 1990s.
The richly decorated building of the temple rests on a multi-level high platform. A wide staircase leads to it, on which you can see sculptures depicting nagas - mythological snakes with several heads. The roof of the sanctuary is decorated with a metal decorative element consisting of 17 sharp spiers. This decor can be found in many temples in Laos. Sacred images covered with green and gold paint are carved on the wood panels of the main facade. Inside the temple there is a large gilded altar on which the image of Buddha Phra Bang should be located. Today this valuable statue is kept in the Royal Palace.
According to legend, the 83-centimeter sculpture of Buddha was made in Sri Lanka almost 2 thousand years ago. But scientists have established that the statue most likely dates from the XIV century. The image of Phra Bang was presented to Fa Ngum, the first ruler of the Lansang kingdom, as Laos used to be called, by the king of Angkor. Soon it is planned to move this statue to the specially designed temple of Hao Pha Bang.
