Wat Pa Huak (Луангпхабанг)

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Wat Pa Huak (built 1861)

Wat Pa Huak (Pa Houak), “the Monastery of the [Thornless] Bamboo Forest,” was founded by Phaya Si Mahanam in 1861, during the reign of King Chantharath (1850-1872). In his Recherches sur la literature laotienne, 1917, Louis Finot suggests it was already founded in 1841; there appears to be little corroborating evidence for that date. The name of the wat is derived from the previous existence of a bamboo forest on the site. The sim is located at the northeast entry to Mount Phousi and across from the main entryway to the Palace Museum. Though it often appears abandoned and neglected, it springs to life during the festival season, when some of these images were taken.

The rather small sim is in the Vientiane or Thai style and has tall unadorned octagonal columns supporting the roof of the portico. Pa Huak externally shows its years of neglect, a reflection both of limited resources for such work and the large number of projects needing support in the relatively small area of the Luang Prabang Heritage Zone. The exterior is in need of repair; the bare wooden carvings are heavily weathered, as are the doors that are most often locked. But there is a wonderful and elaborate carved, unpainted and weathered, wooden façade that formerly had numerous colorful mosaics on it. Most have fallen off and can be found on the grounds. In the center of the façade there is a representation of Indra riding Airavata (Erawan, in Thai), the three-headed elephant of Hindu mythology. Unfortunately it is a poor, and doubtless recent, casting; the Airavata at the rear of the building is much more dramatic, and even has remnants of its former gold leaf (see accompanying images). The weathered doors still have traces of their former glory, and the crown sections above the doors retain their rich historic character.

Perhaps the most interesting element of Pa Huak, however, is the set of 19th century murals in the interior, though they have been damaged by the elements. Although the French art historian Henri Parmentier called them ‘ridiculous’ in his L’art du Laos, they have a definite charm and provide fascinating insights into the life of the 19th century. They do not contain the usual scenes from the life of the Buddha or from the Lao version of the Ramayana, the Pha Lak Pha Lam, that are so common in sim murals. Centrally important is the depiction of the story of the Buddha’s humiliation or taming of the haughty King Jambupati, by presenting himself as the Buddha King of the world rather than as a humble monk. They deal also with Luang Prabang as a heavenly city receiving Chinese, European and Persian visitors, or possible invaders. Its inhabitants are clad in classical finery. There are elephants, horses, tigers, a variety of birds and many types of flora. There are military and domestic scenes.

Pa Huak once contained numerous historic manuscripts, since for a while after 1945 the sim served as the library of Luang Prabang’s Ministry of Culture. Now it is mostly locked and deserted. This writer was fortunate to have been there during the Awk Phansao (Awk Watsa) festival in October, 2005 (his fourth visit to the city), celebrating the end of the rainy season.

Text by Robert D. Fiala, Concordia University, Nebraska, USA