Pha That Luang
Pha That Luang ( Lao ພະ ທາດ ຫລວງ, [ p ʰ a t ʰ â ː t lǔ ː On] Great Stupa or Sacred Royal Relic, also briefly That Luang ) is a large Buddhist stupa in Vientiane ( Laos) from the 16th century.
According to legend, here a sanctuary of Mon is said to have originally found. Other legends report that emissaries of King Ashoka in about 307 BC brought a relic of the Buddha here. Yet another legend has it, there have resided here two nagas.
History
When King Sai Setthathirath I. his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane moved, he is said to have commissioned the building of a stupa on the ruins of a Khmer temple from the 13th century. The stupa was inaugurated in 1566 under the name "Local Chulamani " by the king. In the four directions then each a temple was built, of which today only the Wat That Luang Nuea ( the residence of the Supreme Patriarch of Lao Sangha ) in the north and Wat That Luang Tai to the south of the That Luang exist.
During the Siamese conquest in 1828, the Pha That Luang was badly damaged, further destruction sent a lightning strike in 1896. In 1900 was a restoration of the building on behalf of the French colonial government rather than by the École française d' Extrême Orient. However, this structure was revised as early as the 1930s, the colonial government began to faithfully build the stupa again. The model for this new reconstruction of the detailed drawings of the French architect and explorer Louis Delaporte, who had visited as a member of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 1867 Vientiane served.
Architecture
The monument is surrounded by a square, open inwards, covered walkway, where some statues are erected in Khmer and Lao style. The Stupa stands on three progressively smaller up becoming terraces, each supported outside of large, stylized lotus petals. By gates at the four sides of each next stage is reached. The lowest terrace is 68 m x 69 m large, the surrounding wall is decorated with above 323 Votivsteinen. The second terrace is 48 m x 48 m tall. Here are another 288 Votivsteine . On the top terrace 30 miniature stupas are situated. The actual base of the stupa measures 30 m x 30 m. The top of the 45 m high structure represents a stylized banana flower
Gallery
View over the tops of lotus petals and the Votivsteine on the miniature stupas and the That Luang
The Nagas inside the temple