New Delhi: The ASI team is engaged in preserving Hindu culture in Laos, a country in South East Asia located hundreds of miles away from the Indian border. In 2005, ASI started the survey work of Wat Pho temple. In 2007, an MoU was signed between the governments of India and Laos and ASI started working here from the year 2009. The first phase of restoration work was done between 2007 and 2017 in which Rs 17 crore was spent. The second phase of this project started in the year 2018 which will end in 2028. In Phase 2, about Rs 24 crore has been spent by ASI.
Wat Pho temple was built in the 5th century
Actually, Wat Phou temple was built in the fifth century by the Khmer royal family as a Shiva temple, but by the fourteenth century, with the spread of Buddhism in South East Asia, it was converted into a Buddhist temple. However, the evidence of it being a Shiva temple is still present in every corner of this temple complex. While there is a big yellow golden statue of Lord Buddha in the temple complex, the figures of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh are engraved on a big rock behind the temple.
Shivalinga is situated in the courtyard of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple
Shivlinga is still present in the courtyard of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Many Shivlingas have been found in this temple courtyard, including a broken statue of the Shiva family seated on Nandi. The ASI team has been engaged in the restoration work of this UNESCO protected site since 2007. This work of ASI will not only strengthen the relations between India and Laos, but the signs of Hindu culture that spread in Far South East Asia thousands of years ago will be preserved once again.
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