Buddha Park

Buddha Park, also known as Xieng Khuan, is a sculpture park located 25 km southeast from Vientiane, Laos in a meadow by the Mekong River. Although it is not a temple, the park may be referred to as Wat Xieng Khuan, since it contains numerous religious images. The name Xieng Khuan means Spirit City. The park contains over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. The socialist government operates Buddha Park as a tourist attraction and public park.OverviewThe park was started in 1958 by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat. Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat was a priest-shaman who integrated Hinduism and Buddhism. His unique perspective was influenced by a Hindu rishi under whom he studied in Vietnam. After the revolution in 1975, anxious about the repercussions of the rule of Pathet Lao, he fled from Laos to Thailand where he built another sculpture park, Sala Keoku in Nong Khai. Both parks are located right next to the Thai-Lao border, only a few kilometers apart from each other, and the tallest structures of the Buddha Park can actually be seen from the Thai side of Mekong.