Champasak

Wat Phou (Vat Phu) is a ruined Khmer temple complex in southern Laos. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries. The temple has a unique structure, in which the elements lead to a shrine where a linga was bathed in water from a mountain spring. The site later became a centre of Theravada Buddhist worship, which it remains today.

Year Decision Comments
2001 Inscribed Reasons for inscription

Reviews

Frederik Dawson (Netherlands):
Southern Laos is famous for its cultural diversity and natural beauty especially many beautiful waterfalls, but traveling in this region can not be completed if not visited the 1,500 years old Khmer ruin, Vat Phou, the second Khmer heritage in the World Heritage list.

Vat Phou is very important as it is one of the first stone buildings built by ancient Khmer and served as the main temple of the early capital of Chenla Kingdom which is the predecessor of Angkor Empire in present-day Cambodia, but that was not the main reason made Vat Phou to be accepted by UNESCO. Vat Phou is a part of Champasak Cultural Landscape; the center of the landscape is a lingam-liked mountain. Since ancient Khmer were Hinduism, the lingam-liked mountain had to be regarded as the symbol of god deserved to be worship by constructing the temple for. Moreover behind the temple has spring, the holy water from Lingam Mountain!, with the clever ancient engineering, Champasak people built waterway to let the spring flow pass the small man-made lingam in the main temple building before the spring flow down to the reservoir in front of the temple complex. For ancient pilgrims, Vat Phou was the place where they could receive the blessing from God via the double passed lingam spring (double holy).

I have to admit that after read UNESCO evaluation and other study reports, my imagination on this place go far beyond the reality. Right now, Vat Phou is a ruined complex with only 3 buildings that are still standing hardly testify your imagination, the story of the double holy water is very hard to contemplate the possibility of existence. Actually I can not find any lingam since Vat Phou has been converted to become a Buddhist temple long time ago. In reality Vat Phou can not be competed with other important Khmer ruins like Phimai or Phanomroong in Thailand or Preah Vihear in nearby Cambodia (all are in UNESCO tentative list) and surely Vat Phou is disappointing if you visited those sites before. However, please do not consider I do not like Vat Phou and the lingam mountain; they have their own charms with serene and holy atmosphere which are surprisingly existed, so if you visit Southern Laos, there is no reason to not visit this place, it is the must and you can not find any important Khmer ruins that is so peaceful, solitude and less tourist like Vat Phou (except other forgotten sites in Cambodia) and that’s alone make Vat Phou special.
 
Salika Nammavong (U.S.A.):
I visited Champasak in 1996 with my family who are originally from there, from a little village called Ban Dou. It was the first time for me and over twenty years for my Mother and Aunt. After arriving in Vientiene, which we stayed with my Uncle's relatives for a few days, we booked a flight down to Pakse which lasted about 45 minutes and then crossed the Mekong River by ferry to Champasak. I have heard they have since built a bridge that connects the two sides and you can now drive across. From there we drove to my mother's village which is about twenty to thirty minutes and is located on the main road, which its name has escaped me. Unfortunately we did not see Vat Phou or toured the main city of Champasak, but stayed in the countryside. It's so beautiful there, the sky is so blue and the clouds are so white and puffy and at night the stars are endless, because there are no bright city lights to shadow them. We stayed in Ban Dou for only two weeks, and for me it felt like it was only a few days. There is so much to take in, by just walking along the main road down to my grandfather's rice patty to walking with a bunch of my cousins down to the little stream and taking a swim. I savored every moment and it would take a book to tell you all the things we saw and did and felt in only two weeks. It wasn't seeing the main attractions for me really because we didn't, like the waterfalls and Vat Phou, it was being close to family. I plan to visit there again in the near future and this time I plan on visiting Vat Phou and all its glory.
 


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