Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Wat Si Saket or Commoners Temple in Laos


Wat Si Saket is the place where the people like you and me (commoners)will go and pray in the little temple built inside the yard. Surrounding the yard, lies broken Buddha statues, either they have broken limbs, dug out eyes or have their heads chopped off. History has it that while having its civil wars, knowing that their counterparts are Buddhist observants, to have their religious items destroyed like digging out the eyes of the Buddha (which was believed to be make of precious stones) is equivalent to humiliating their enemies. Besides these, the whole area of the temple structure is being kept till this day to let generations after generations know of their roots or culture. Hence, this place is more like a Museum rather than a temple.

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