THE MONUMENTS OF VIENTIANE AND LUANG PRABANG
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on Tonkin and Laos; the Dutch merchant van Wusthoff also visited the capital of Souligna Vongsa from 1641-42 and left an interesting account of his travels. But neither Protestant merchants nor Jesuit priests could have made such a visual impression that more than two hundred years later their envoys should be recorded in a different city from that they visited. No known accounts, either written or visual, survive from the Lao side to record the visits of these gentlemen; however the visual tradition of Europeans, particularly the French, in 17th century Siam was strong during the reign of King Narai (as the lacquer pavilion in Suan Pakkard Palace in Bangkok bears witness), and was continued into the nineteenth century, and as the artists for the frescoes undoubtedly came from Siam one suspects that the inspiration for the unusual door and window carving comes from the same source. It is significant that the foundation date of the temple is also that of Mouhot's visit to Luang Prabang, one of the first recorded visits by Europeans. In the grounds of the temple a resourceful monk had utilised a plasma bottle and dripper to feed his roses.
Vat May, past the royal palace in the main street, was built in 1820 and has an unusually high roof; the portico is decorated with large gilded panels representing scenes from the life of the Buddha. It was for a time the shrine of the Pra Bang, the palladium of the Lao kingdom. This statue came from Cambodia in 1358 at the founding of the Kingdom of Lane Xang and was moved to Vientiane when the capital was transferred in the 16th century. It was taken in 1778 with the Pra Keo by the Siamese; the Pra Bang was returned in 1781 to Ong Boun. The Siamese again removed it in the sack of Vientiane in 1828 but King Mongkut restored the statue in 1867. Recently it has been moved from the temple for safekeeping in the Royal Palace. Between the temple and the palace is a small red lacquer post and dais; until recently, each year the royal elephants were preached at and requested to behave themselves before being sprinkled with lustral water.
The two other principal temples of the town are away from the main street. Vat Vixun was restored in 1867 and much changed in shape. It has a large nave and fat pillars and it is far more imposing than many temples in the town. A number of pieces of woodcarving have been collected in it to form the basis of a museum, but at present it is but a jumble of spirit houses and shrines. Here are to be found several flags, each with a number of small Buddhas