Laos
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This Wat,
like Wat Phra Kaeo of Bangkok, is not a monastery but served as
royal temple. In its original form, it had been built in
1565 by King Setthathirat to house the Emerald Buddha brought
from Chiang Mai. In 1788 the Emerald Buddha was taken to Bangkok
by the Siamese. Since then, it's the holiest statue, not
of the Laotians but of the Thais. Wat Phra Kaeo in Vientiane
was mostly destroyed during the Siamese invasion of 1827. In the
40's and 50's of this century it was meticulously reconstructed.
English isn't even my native language, and I can't afford a copy editor, so the consumer of my work will have to swallow my strange German diction.
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Vientiane / Wat Phra Kaeo
Photo: Wat Phra Kaeo
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http://www.asiatour.com/laos/e-03vien/el-vie24.htm
Jan Garanoz
869/116 Thanon Pemavipat,
Chiang Rai, 57000 Thailand
Last updated: February 17, 2010