When a temple in southern Laos was a major Hindu pilgrimage centre

via Scroll.in, 18 September 2022: A feature on Vat Phou.

In 2022, it’s hard to imagine that the Theravada Buddhist-majority republic of Laos, which has traditionally been a part of the Sinosphere, was once home to a civilisation and temple complex that was a major centre for Hinduism in South East Asia. Almost all traces of Hinduism in what comprises modern-day Laos were wiped out after the major empires in the region, such as the Khmer, adopted Buddhism. However, in the country’s southern Champasak province, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia, there is a mountain with a Shiv Lingam-shaped protuberance at its summit that reminds visitors of the time when worship of Shiva and Vishnu was common in the region.

The Vat Phou temple complex, which lies at the base of the Phou Khao mountain, traces its origin to the 5th century CE and houses a series of structures that were mostly built between the 11th and 13th centuries. “The Champasak cultural landscape, including the Vat Phou Temple complex, is a remarkably well-preserved planned landscape more than 1,000 years old,” according to UNESCO. “It was shaped to express the Hindu vision of the relationship between nature and humanity, using an axis from mountain top to river bank to lay out a geometric pattern of temples, shrines and waterworks extending over some 10 km.”

Source: When a temple in southern Laos was a major Hindu pilgrimage centre