Vientiane Walk - Ho Phra Keo Museum
This one is not a temple but sacred too, even considered 'holiest' by the Lao people - probably because it weighs big in the Lao cultural identity and spiritual well-being.
Makasaysayan at me masalimuot na intriga ang museo na ito. At aba, international!
Like Wat Sisaket across the road, this museum also opens at 8AM for us tourists.
This was the first I came back to on my return walk, before going to Sisaket Temple.
And like at Wat Sisaket, I also did not pay and enter to see this museum.
I knew I had not much time to spare. I needed to be back at the hotel and expect my associates for a meeting. But as I said earlier where there's a will, there will be a way!
Ako pa!
At that counter, you could clearly see the chapel/museum building (talikod ka). This:
You leave your footwear on the ground (at the foot of the stairs), then you go up, and around that loggia (external hallway) since many of the museum's displays are there.
Once you enter that main door, no cameras or phones allowed kahit anong brand oy!
How did I know those? Ala eh, itinanong ko dyan sa manang tiketera! In fact, sila na rin ang nag-suggest na if I did not have at least an hour, "kam nek time" na lang daw!
Dahil sayang naman daw ang entrance fee na 10,000 Kip (mga trenta pesos yan).
I didn't go any further, but I learned oh so many things - from them the tiketeras, plus some tourguides or drivers who were in the area. Nag-tanong lang ako, sinagot nila!
Me issue dito! Interesting amusing intriguing history!
But first let's talk about where this is located (and why).
It's beside the Presidential Palace, separated by a fence, as we modern people see it. Historically though, it was the other way around: the Presidential Palace or formerly Governor's Residence of French colonizers was built on the grounds of Ho Phra Keo.
What's the significance for the French? Lao people considered it a 'royal sacred zone' because Ho Phra Keo was there - in those times, a spiritual center was also a royal center as kings were supposedly sons of god. So, join ang French sa power center!
In time, maybe because of the building's grandiousness, people (especially visitors) remembered the area as "the Presidential Palace with the Ho Phra Keo on the side".
In fact, Ho Phra Keo was built in 1565, while the French came 3 centuries later (1893).
King Setthathirat had it built as Royal Chapel (Ho) NOT Public Temple (Wat), to house the Emerald Buddha - when he moved the capital to Vientiane from Luang Prabang. As you would notice, this Ho is just across to Wat Sisaket - ang pang-madlang pipol!
What about an Emerald Buddha? It was/is considered the most sacred possession of kings; it is proof of legitimacy of being king - governing according to cosmic law.
Da Isyu!
Setthathirat inherited that Emerald Buddha when he became King of Lan Na - now Chiang Mai, Thailand - after King Ket Chettharat (maternal grandfather) died in 1546.
Kaso mo, tatay nya lang naman si King Photisarath of Lan Xang (now Luang Prabang Laos) who died in 1548. So umuwi sya dala ang Emerald Buddha, kanya naman yon!
Maging hari ka sa isang lugar, tas in 2 years hari pa rin sa isa pang lugar, keri mo?!
Teka, di ko alam ang royal political social jurisdictions at inheritance laws nila noong 1540s. Wala pa naman yata silang mala-Republic Act No. 386, Articles 774 to 1105!
Hahaha! Basta, Setthathirat was King of Lan Na (Chiang Mai). But, he stopped being so (ipinaubaya nya siguro sa mga pinsan nya doon), and concentrated on beig king of Lan Xang (Laos). Ganoon ang kalakaran noong mga panahon na yon. Malalayo kasi.
In the 1570s, in their wars with Burma (called Toungoo Empire then, now Myanmar) - nawala as in naglaho yan si Setthathirat, at ni hindi (daw) alam ng mga alipores nya, kung namatay, pinatay, o naglaho na parang bula. Basta nag-gone with the wind sya!
Note that the Emerald Buddha remained in this chapel, at tuloy ang buhay ng Laos.
200 years later (1779), umatake si Siam (Thailand) ke Laos, giniba sinunog lahat ng makita nila (except Wat Sisaket), tinangay the Emerald Buddha at dinala sa Bangkok.
Yan ang nasagap kong maritess dito sa me entrance ng Ho Phra Keo.
Imagine how sacred Ho Phra Keo is to the Lao people, 1779 pa tinangay ng Thailand ang Emerald Buddha, yet they rebuilt this chapel, considering it holy, even until today.
Nasaan na ngayon yan?
That's the same Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), within grand palace grounds in Bangkok. It's the most important Wat in all Thailand.
Now, whatever the narrative in Bangkok is, don't contest. Tourist ka lang, absorb na lang - because that's a very sensitive topic between these two countries, until today.
Anyway, don't wonder that: Ho Phra Keo, Haw Phra Kaew, Ho Prakeo, Hor Pha Keo, Ho Phra Kaew, Ho Phra Kaeo or other similar spellings & pronunciations mean the same.
Dito lang yan sa Vientiane. Because in Bangkok, it is Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Phra Kaeo, etc., etc! At sa sulat pa lang yan! There are still the variations in pronunciation ayay!
I also noted ang ending nila laging tunog "kyaw" na parang "kyew". Parang pakyaw!
So let's move on with my walk.
Aw, earlier when I passed-by and the gate was still closed, I took this shot.
I know what we see now must already be a nth-time reconstruction, especially when it was converted to a museum. But they must have referred to the original structure.
Ganda. Tara let's go!
Makasaysayan at me masalimuot na intriga ang museo na ito. At aba, international!
Like Wat Sisaket across the road, this museum also opens at 8AM for us tourists.
And like at Wat Sisaket, I also did not pay and enter to see this museum.
Ako pa!
At that counter, you could clearly see the chapel/museum building (talikod ka). This:
Once you enter that main door, no cameras or phones allowed kahit anong brand oy!
How did I know those? Ala eh, itinanong ko dyan sa manang tiketera! In fact, sila na rin ang nag-suggest na if I did not have at least an hour, "kam nek time" na lang daw!
Dahil sayang naman daw ang entrance fee na 10,000 Kip (mga trenta pesos yan).
I didn't go any further, but I learned oh so many things - from them the tiketeras, plus some tourguides or drivers who were in the area. Nag-tanong lang ako, sinagot nila!
Me issue dito! Interesting amusing intriguing history!
But first let's talk about where this is located (and why).
It's beside the Presidential Palace, separated by a fence, as we modern people see it. Historically though, it was the other way around: the Presidential Palace or formerly Governor's Residence of French colonizers was built on the grounds of Ho Phra Keo.
What's the significance for the French? Lao people considered it a 'royal sacred zone' because Ho Phra Keo was there - in those times, a spiritual center was also a royal center as kings were supposedly sons of god. So, join ang French sa power center!
In time, maybe because of the building's grandiousness, people (especially visitors) remembered the area as "the Presidential Palace with the Ho Phra Keo on the side".
In fact, Ho Phra Keo was built in 1565, while the French came 3 centuries later (1893).
King Setthathirat had it built as Royal Chapel (Ho) NOT Public Temple (Wat), to house the Emerald Buddha - when he moved the capital to Vientiane from Luang Prabang. As you would notice, this Ho is just across to Wat Sisaket - ang pang-madlang pipol!
What about an Emerald Buddha? It was/is considered the most sacred possession of kings; it is proof of legitimacy of being king - governing according to cosmic law.
Da Isyu!
Setthathirat inherited that Emerald Buddha when he became King of Lan Na - now Chiang Mai, Thailand - after King Ket Chettharat (maternal grandfather) died in 1546.
Kaso mo, tatay nya lang naman si King Photisarath of Lan Xang (now Luang Prabang Laos) who died in 1548. So umuwi sya dala ang Emerald Buddha, kanya naman yon!
Maging hari ka sa isang lugar, tas in 2 years hari pa rin sa isa pang lugar, keri mo?!
Teka, di ko alam ang royal political social jurisdictions at inheritance laws nila noong 1540s. Wala pa naman yata silang mala-Republic Act No. 386, Articles 774 to 1105!
Hahaha! Basta, Setthathirat was King of Lan Na (Chiang Mai). But, he stopped being so (ipinaubaya nya siguro sa mga pinsan nya doon), and concentrated on beig king of Lan Xang (Laos). Ganoon ang kalakaran noong mga panahon na yon. Malalayo kasi.
In the 1570s, in their wars with Burma (called Toungoo Empire then, now Myanmar) - nawala as in naglaho yan si Setthathirat, at ni hindi (daw) alam ng mga alipores nya, kung namatay, pinatay, o naglaho na parang bula. Basta nag-gone with the wind sya!
Note that the Emerald Buddha remained in this chapel, at tuloy ang buhay ng Laos.
200 years later (1779), umatake si Siam (Thailand) ke Laos, giniba sinunog lahat ng makita nila (except Wat Sisaket), tinangay the Emerald Buddha at dinala sa Bangkok.
Yan ang nasagap kong maritess dito sa me entrance ng Ho Phra Keo.
Imagine how sacred Ho Phra Keo is to the Lao people, 1779 pa tinangay ng Thailand ang Emerald Buddha, yet they rebuilt this chapel, considering it holy, even until today.
Nasaan na ngayon yan?
That's the same Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), within grand palace grounds in Bangkok. It's the most important Wat in all Thailand.
Now, whatever the narrative in Bangkok is, don't contest. Tourist ka lang, absorb na lang - because that's a very sensitive topic between these two countries, until today.
Anyway, don't wonder that: Ho Phra Keo, Haw Phra Kaew, Ho Prakeo, Hor Pha Keo, Ho Phra Kaew, Ho Phra Kaeo or other similar spellings & pronunciations mean the same.
Dito lang yan sa Vientiane. Because in Bangkok, it is Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Phra Kaeo, etc., etc! At sa sulat pa lang yan! There are still the variations in pronunciation ayay!
I also noted ang ending nila laging tunog "kyaw" na parang "kyew". Parang pakyaw!
So let's move on with my walk.
Aw, earlier when I passed-by and the gate was still closed, I took this shot.
Ganda. Tara let's go!
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