First stop:
… before biking through Lao villages:
… with spectacular scenery:
… to Wat Phou. The information centre was very good and again I felt nicely warm as I read stuff I already knew. Lots of linga, and Shiva with his consort Parvati (representing the male and female of Shiva). As well as garudas, sculptures of Vishnu (with his four arms), there was a display showing how the columns of these temples went from circular (C5) to many-sided (e.g. octagonal).
Nagas made a welcome appearance: mythological serpent spirits and protectors of the waters. If you recall, the Khmer often used them on the balustrades leading up to temples.
The new kid on the block was the “Makara” – a pre-Angkorian water monster with crocodile, fish and elephant features, symbolising the transformation from material to spiritual:
And then it was off to see Wat Phou itself. Not only situated strategically at the bottom of a hill (I think this represents the “male” and is the home of the gods, but my RAM is letting me down on this point right now), the hill itself is topped with a slightly phallic outcrop, thus making it a particularly attractive site for a Shivaist sanctuary. In addition, there’s a natural spring (the “female” representing nurture) which was channeled to permanently feed the Shiva Linga and font.
Of Khmer architecture and Hindu religion, the remains of the wat unsurprisingly reminded me of those in Cambodia (which, of course, isn’t very far away; this part of Lao would have been part of the Khmer empire):
Seeing actual columns:
.. and lintels:
… in situ was really good (and although “renovation” was evident in some places, the information centre had been more upfront about the relatively recent changes, which was a breath of fresh air).
Seven terraces extended up the hill, with spectacular views from the top showing the whole site:
I’d met Karin earlier in the day as we both wandered and lingered, trying to plan our stay. We decided to hire a scooter and do the trip independently – it was nice to spend the afternoon wandering around in our own time, rather than having to adhere to the strict time allocations of a tour.
A short trip back to Pakse, dinner and an early night ready for the start of our Bolaven Plateau tour tomorrow 🙂