LAOS: Best Ancient Buddhist temple to see in VIENTIANE

City of Vientiane, Laos - stunning Buddhist temple Wat Si Muang in Vientiane. in Laos Let's visit the Buddhist temple Wat Si Muang, one of the most ancient Buddhist temples in Vientiane, the capital of LAOS in SE Asia. The Buddhist temple Wat Si Muang or Simuong was built in 1563 and it is located near the eastern entrance to the city centre, on the road leading from the Friendship Bridge to Thailand. The Buddhist temple Wat Si Muang or Simuong was built on the ruins of a Khmer Empire Hindu shrine. Inside, the Buddhist temple Wat Si Muang or Simuong is unusual in being divided into two rooms. The front room is usually quiet, with monks on hand to give blessings. The rear room houses the large main altar, with numerous statues and images of the Buddha. I visited on a very busy and crowded day, here is what I saw and recorded from this incredibly colorful culture..
#vientiane #laos #vicstefanu

[@chanthasendarath1906]

Laos 👍🙏❤

[@VicStefanu]

Thanks for watching! 😊😊😊

[@user-mx7xw2wn4e]

Sa took Sa took Sa took 🙏🙏🙏❤️♥️♥️

[@VicStefanu]

Hello, thank you for watching my videos!! 😊😊

[@mcfrdmn]

Lovely video of the ancient Buddhist temple of Wat Si Muang in VIENTIANE capital of LAOS. The inside of this Buddhist temple is simply immaculate, and those statues of Buddha have been very carefully carved and painted. Given the hot and humid climate of Laos, I was truly surprised that they only have a floor fan to cool the rear room where prayers and blessings to Buddha were taking place. It appears that the monks and priests were expecting cash offerings from all those visitors who went to the temple to be blessed by the priest and monks, since everything was carefully set out for the visitors to give the priests their money in return for the priestly blessings. I would have thought that the rear room especially would have been airconditioned. I am quite surprised that the monks and priests allowed you to video tape in their temple, and especially in the rear room housing the altars. From what I had understood these monks and priests were very private people who kept to themselves, and usually would not permit the filming on the grounds of their temples and shrines. The sculptures inside the temple were magnificently carved, and carefully painted and crafted. As a matter of curiosity, did the monks and priests require you to tithe to their temple in order to get their permission to film inside of their temple. From what I could see, the monks and priests would need continual donations from all visitors in order to pay for the upkeep of this historic temple.

[@VicStefanu]

+Michael Friedman Hi Michael, you are right, the monks expect a small donation for their blessings.. No air-conditioning anywhere and if you were to go in the middle of the day, you would have to deal with temperatures in the high 30sC (90sF).. A lot of people were videotaping and taking photographs, so I was allowed to do so as well (as long as I paid an admission ticket of $2, for tourists only)..

[@geneballay9590]

Another Grrrrreat video. Thank you for all the work

[@VicStefanu]

+Gene Ballay Thank you for viewing my videos!!

[@johnnytravel-theworld5016]

How many countries have you been to??

[@chouxsojunetie4065]

this one looks like kin kakuji temple in japan. the sizing scale is little different. it has less wonder on laos’ question of future development.

[@VicStefanu]

Hello, thank you for your comments and for watching my videos!! 👍👍👍

[@meandmymouth]

Thanks Vic for another great vid. I'm not a religious person but I do have some cheap Buddhist sculptures in my home which I bought from places like TK Max purely for their decorative value. As far as I can understand the Buddhist faith seems to divide into two streams "Those who think" and "Those who do" . The monks and priests seem to spend most of their time in prayer and quiet contemplation whilst those who create those wonderful temples and statues you showed us in your vid must have spent countless hours in hard and meticulous physical work. This seems to me to be a justified balance and symmetry between two opposing modes. As a bit of a quotation collecting junkie it fits perfectly with the ascribed quote from the particle physicist Niels Bohr who is supposed to have said "The opposite is also true " :-)

[@VicStefanu]

+meandmymouth I know what you mean (about the opposites).. It is totally fascinating, when travelling around SE Asia, to visit these monasteries and temples and to see how the monks live, how they pray, etc... an incredible experience indeed and I am so glad I have had the opportunity to videotape them not only in Laos, but in Cambodia, Thailand, etc......

[@lallyoisin]

Dharmachakra on the ceiling. Was it a hindu temple before buddhist? Along with Cambodia the most bombed place ever! Quick change of religion and history is wiped The needle returns to the start of the song.. And we all sing along like before!

[@VicStefanu]

Thanks for visiting! 👍👍👍 It is possible that the earliest temples started as Hindu temples..