page_title: Vat Phou
section_title: Site
hierarchical_section_title: Vat Phou / Site
caption_attribution_description: English: Clothed statues of the Buddha seated, table with stones and Buddhist relics, inside the ruined Khmer Hindu temple complex of Wat Phou, Champasak Province, southern Laos. Français&#160;: Statues du Bouddha habillé assis, table avec des pierres et reliques bouddhistes, dans le complexe du temple hindou khmer de Wat Phou, province de Champasak, sud du Laos.
context_page_description: Vat Phou is a ruined Khmer Hindu temple complex in southern Laos. It is at the base of mount Phou Khao, some 6 kilometres from the Mekong in Champasak Province. There was a temple on the site as early as the 5th century, but the surviving structures date from the 11th to 13th centuries. It has a unique structure: The elements lead to a shrine where a lingam dedicated to Lord Shiva was bathed in water from a mountain spring. The site later became a centre of Theravada Buddhist worship, which it remains today.
context_section_description: Like most Khmer temples, Vat Phou is oriented towards the east, although the axis faces eight degrees south of due east, being determined primarily by the orientation of the mountain and the river. Including the barays (reservoirs), it stretches 1.4 kilometres (0.87 mi) east from the source of the spring, at the base of a cliff 100 metres (330 ft) up the hill. 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of the temple, on the west bank of the Mekong, lay the city, while a road south from the temple itself led to other temples and ultimately to the city of Angkor.
  Approached from the city (of which little remains), the first part of the temple reached is a series of barays. Only one now contains water, the 600 by 200 m middle baray which lies directly along the temple's axis; there were reservoirs north and south of this, and a further pair on each side of the causeway between the middle baray and the palaces.
  The two palaces stand on a terrace on either side of the axis. They are known as the north and south palaces or, without any evidence, the men's and women's palaces (the term "palace" is a mere convention and their purpose is unknown). Each consisted of a rectangular courtyard with a corridor and entrance on the side towards the axis, and false doors at the east and west ends. The courtyards of both buildings have laterite walls. The walls of the northern palace's corridor are laterite, while those of the southern palace are sandstone. The northern building is now in better condition. The palaces are notable chiefly for their pediments and lintels, which are in the early Angkor Wat style.
  The next terrace has a small shrine to Nandi (Shiva's mount) to the south, in poor condition. The road connecting Vat Phou to Angkor ran south from this temple. Continuing west, successive staircases lead up further terraces; between them stands a dvarapala which has come to be worshiped as king Kammatha, mythical builder of the temple. On the narrow next terrace are the remains of six small shrines destroyed by treasure-hunters.
  The path culminates in seven sandstone tiers which rise to the upper terrace and central sanctuary. The sanctuary is in two parts. The front section, of sandstone, is now occupied by four Buddha images, while the brick rear part, which formerly contained the central lingam, is empty.
  The entire roof is missing, although a makeshift covering has been added to the front. Water from the spring which emerges from the cliff about 60 m southwest of the sanctuary was channeled along stone aqueducts into the rear chamber, continuously bathing the lingam. The sanctuary is later than the north and south palaces, belonging to the Baphuon period of the later 11th century. The east side has three doorways: from south to north, their pediments show Krishna defeating the nāga Kaliya; Indra riding Airavata; and Vishnu riding Garuda. The east wall bears dvarapalas and devatas. Entrances to the south and north have inner and outer lintels, including one to the south of Krishna ripping Kamsa apart.
  Other features of the area are a library, in poor condition, south of the sanctuary, and a relief of the Trimurti to the northwest. There are other carvings further north: a Buddha footprint on the cliff face and boulders shaped to resemble elephants and a crocodile. The crocodile stone has acquired some notoriety as being possibly the site of an annual human sacrifice described in a sixth-century Chinese text. The identification is lent some plausibility by the similarity of the crocodile's dimensions to those of a human.
caption: Buddha statue
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