Wat Phu Champasak
Wat Phu Champasak is an ancient temple located in Pakse, a city in the Champasak region of Laos. The temple has stood for over a millenium, and was once a part of the Cambodian Empire, the center of which was the city of Angkor in the 10th century A.D. Wat Phu was built as a temple of worship to the Hindu god, Shiva, and the water from the fountain located behind the temple was considered sacred. Today the temple is a popular attraction for both tourists and locals due to the site’s religious and historical importance. In 2001, Wat Phu was named a world heritage site and restoration and conservation projects were launched to maintain and protect this historical monument. Few restorations have been done since, however, besides some reconstruction of the pillars along the main route.
Besides the main structure, the temple has large stone steps leading up the mountain to other ancient ruins, including the stone sculptures of an elephant and an alligator. The stone alligator is particularly infamous, as it is rumored to be the site of annual human sacrifices, as mentioned in some Chinese texts from the 6th century. The fact that the shape of the alligator sculpture resembles the stretched out form of a human being further indicates the possibility of this.
Wat Phu is also rather impressive architecturally, with the corrior walls of the norther palace being laterite, and the southern palace being made of sandstone. As it is a Khmer style temple, the site is plentiful with scultpures and images depicting figures from the Hindu religion, inlcuding Krishna, Kaliya, Indra, Airavata, Vishnu and Garuda.
Today the site is open to the general public for religious activities as well as a tourist location from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M., and the price of admittance is 50,000 Lao kip for tourists and 20,000 Lao kip for locals. The temple also has a museum nearby, where other ancient items, sculptures, and architectural pieces are kept on display, including statues of Shiva, Vishnu and Nandin, as well as some Buddhist statues.
