VAT HO PHRA KÈO

Vat Ho Phra Kèo is not a simple temple; it is a palace monastery - Vat Ho - whose maintenance was not ensured by monks, but by the sovereign himself. Vat Ho Phra Kèo literally means "Emerald Buddha's palace monastery", it was built to shelter this famous Emerald Buddha whose story follows.

In 1545, Setthathirath, who was to make Vientiane the capital of Lane Xang, was only 12 years old when his father, Phothisararath, appointed him to the throne of Chiang Mai at the request of the notables of this small kingdom then called Lan Na. Phothisararath died accidentally shortly afterwards and the young Setthathirath was called to succeed him. In honor of his reign, the notables of Chiang Mai presented him with a gift: a small jade colored statue of Buddha sitting in the meditation position, Phra Keo.

Luang Prabang already possessing the Phra Bang, the young sovereign decided to install this Buddha in the enclosure of his new residence in Vientiane. The palace monastery then had a proud appearance with its huge gilded and carved wooden doors, its red and gold murals, and its slender roof with a triple-slope break. However, relations deteriorated between the ancient kingdom of Lan Na, under Siamese rule, and that of Lane Xang. Ayuthya, the Siamese king, made it a point of honour to recover Phra Kèo which he considered as part of his national heritage. In 1779, following the defeat of the Lao army against the Siamese, the Emerald Buddha definitively took the road to Bangkok where it is today exposed in another Vat Ho Phra Kèo (Wat Phra Kaew as it is called in Thailand). In 1828, Vientiane was burnt to the ground; the vat remained in ruins until 1936, when the Laotian and French authorities decided to restore the monument. Under the direction of Prince Souvanna Phouma, a public works engineer by training, the building was rebuilt on the model of the old one, the aim of this reconstruction being to turn it into a museum of religious arts. The pieces that had been stored in various monasteries were transferred there and, in 1954, those from the Lao collection of the Louis Finot Museum in Hanoi were added to the collection. Today, one can admire some beautiful pieces: stelae engraved with Mon inscriptions; sumptuous golden throne; statues of Khmer origin and a number of wood carvings, including these superb carved doors which are one of the main treasures of Lao art.