Wat Xieng Khuan

Location: On the bank of Mekong River, some 25 kilometers southeast from downtown Vientiane.

Entry fee: 8000 Kip

Opening time: 08:00- 16:30

Recommended time for a visit: 3 hours

Wat Xieng Khuan is actually not a temple but a park of numerous Buddhism and Hinduism statues in diversified sizes and postures. The park was built in 1958 by Bunleua Sulilat, an eminent monk who is proficient in yoga, medical skill, painting, art design, philosophies of both Buddhism and Hinduism. He had many fresh craftsmen carve those statues under his guidance. The images of statues include Shiva, Vishnu, Arjuna, Avalokitesvara, Buddha, all other gods and spirits in Buddhism and Hinduism, and even some laymen.

Furthermore, there is a spherical Buddhism pagoda built in unique shape in Wat Xieng Khuan, which is known as Heaven and Hell among locals. The pagoda stands for the universe and built into three lays, representing the heaven, the man’s world and the hell respectively. Tourists can ascend the narrow steps inside the pagoda and arrive on the top, also “the heaven”, and will be rewarded with an overall perspective of the whole garden. In the outer edge of those statues is a huge sleeping Buddha guarding these statues in its front.