Temple visits in Vientiane

Video #1 - As the cord that binds, burns at one end, worshippers 

receive a blessing at Wat Si Muang.

Video #2 - Hans and Hong receive a monk's blessing 

before freeing two birds from captivity at Wat Si Muang.

Video #3 - Hans and Hong freeing the pair of Yellow-billed egrets

at Wat Si Muang.

Video #4 - the pair of Yellow-billed egrets freed at last,

at Wat Si Muang.

The beautifully proportioned cloister at Wat Sisaket.

Wat Sisaket, is the home of the Head of the Buddhist community in Laos.

Wat Phra Kaeo, much restored is the only remnant left of the former wat or monastery.

Pha That Luang is the national symbol of Laos.

Buddhas on the alter with a mandala behind.

Worshippers and sellers at Wat Si Muang.

As the cord that binds, burns at one end, worshippers receive a blessing at Wat Si Muang.

Hans and Hong receive a monk's blessing before freeing two birds from captivity.

Resident Wooly-necked Stork and one the freed Yellow-billed egrets.

Close-up of one of the freed Yellow-billed Egrets.

One of the freed Yellow-billed egrets, to the right of the Buddha statue, 
assesses its new freedom.

Hans and Hong at Wat Si Muang.

A VISIT to Vientiane would not be complete with seeing at least some of it's many temples. Included here are just a few. Wat Sisaket, built around 1818, is a beautifully proportioned monastery. It's sim, or ordination hall, is one of Vientiane's most important buildings. Inside, enclosed by a cloister, is the main building containing murals badly ravaged by time. Wat Sisaket is also remarkable because it is one of the only survivors of the Thai sacking of Vientiane in 1827-28.

Also of note is Wat Phra Kaeo across the road from Wat Sisaket, Originally built in 1565 it was a casualty of the Thai destruction of the Lao capital. What stands today is a lovingly reconstructed building, in the middle of a beautiful garden, from the 1940s and 1950s.

That Luang is Vientiane's most important site and the holiest Buddhist monument in the country. From a distance one approaches a golden stupa on top of a gently sloped hill..What one sees today is the heavily restored version from the beginning of the 19th century. According to legend a stupa was first built here in the 3rd century AD however the only early signs, found through excavation, date from Khmer times in the 11th to 13th centuries.

Wat Si Muang is without doubt Vientiane's busiest temple. The ordination hall was not large but very popular. Throngs of people come here for good luck or fortune. This afternoon, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. Inside, people prayed or received blessings in the front room of the hall, In the smaller rear room was an altar with many Buddha statues plus a large colourful mandala hanging behind. Above was a copper ceiling with some kind of relief pattern.

I was also with my friends Hans and Hong today. They bought two sad looking Yellow-billed Egrets, at a country market east of town, with the intent of freeing the birds as is the custom here. Normally small birds are released here to earn better karma but Hong's compassion was moved by seeing these much larger specimens crammed into a small cage. The tuk tuk driver, who was completely in tune with what was unfolding, suggested we take the egrets to Wat Si Muang. There my friends could receive blessings and earn merit in the process. So through the tuk tuk driver I too stumbled upon the Wat Si Muang. First Hans and Hong sought blessings from a temple priest. Then the two birds were carefully removed from a cardboard carton and freed in a special area, behind the ordination hall. The whole afternoon seemed to resonate in this trail of little acts of kindness.

As an aside there were Khmer era ruins nearby where the two birds took flight.