Xieng Khuan- Laos

Address

Xieng Khuan Deua, Thanon Tha, Vientiane, Laos

Diety

Shiva, Buddha Amman: Parvati

Introduction

Xieng Khuan (Buddha Park) is an open-air sculpture park(Temple) located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) outside of Vientiane on the river Mekong. It’s known by locals as Xieng Khuan which means Spirit City, and it’s the quirky setting of over 200 sculptures of various shapes and sizes depicting figures from Buddhist and Hindu traditions and lore. The more than 200 statues, filled with cryptic symbols, concentrated in a small area give the Xieng Khuan. Sadly, the place is about to fall into ruins because of floods from the Mekong River and a general lack of conservation. If it is now already a place of surreal lore that looks of ancient ruins, it will surely transform into something even stranger when it actually becomes ruins.

Puranic Significance

The worship of idols is a key part of the religion, and gods and goddesses represented in image form (be it a painting or a sculpture) are known as murtis. Characters from Hindu mythology loom large as murtis at the Buddha Park. For example Shiva (the three-eyed destroyer god), Vishnu (the preserver god, usually portrayed with four arms) and Arjuna (known as an archer, the son of god Indra), as well as other animals, humans and demonic creatures. There’s the Hindu god Indra riding its white three-headed elephant (Airavata and Erawan), alongside a stone deity with four arms atop a horse, and multi-handed, multi-headed, and other generally multi-limbed gods.Next to and amongst these Hindu elements are many different portrayals of Buddha figures, not to mention depictions of other parts of Buddhist belief such as Avalokiteśvara, which is a bodhisattva (a person on the path to Buddhahood) who embodies compassion. Another key feature is the gigantic reclining Buddha that languishes along the edge of the park at 40 meters (130 feet) in length, Are all in ruins.