Laos: Wat Haw Pha Bang in the grounds of the Royal Palace Museum, Luang Prabang

Wat Haw Pha Bang (Ho Pha Bang) was designed to house the highly revered Pha Bang Buddha image.

The Phra Bang (Royal Buddha Image in the Dispelling Fear mudra) is the palladium of Laos. The Lao-language name for the image has been transliterated in a number of ways, including Pra Bang, Prabang, Phabang and Pha Bang.

The statue is an 83cm-high standing Buddha with palms facing forward, cast in bronze and covered in gold leaf. According to local lore, it was cast in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) sometime between the 1st and 9th century. However, the features of the image suggest a much later Khmer origin. The Phra Bang arrived in Lan Xang in 1353 from Angkor and was used to spread Theravada Buddhism in the new kingdom.

In 1359 the Khmer king gave the Phra Bang to his son-in-law, the first Lang Xang monarch Fa Ngum (1353-1373); to provide Buddhist legitimacy both to Fa Ngum's rule and by extension to the sovereignty of Laos. The former Lao capital Luang Prabang, where it was kept, is named after the Buddha image.

Luang Prabang was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Until the communist takeover in 1975, it was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is nowadays a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia