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. The name Xieng Khuan means Spirit City. The park contains over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues.
Built in 1958 by Luang Pu (Venerable Grandfather) Bunleua Sulilat. Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat was a priest-shaman who integrated Hinduism and Buddhism and later fled from Laos to Thailand after the revolution in 1975.
The statues are made of cement and are ornate, and sometimes bizarre, in design. The statues appear to be centuries old, though they are not. There are numerous sculptures of Buddha and characters of Hindu lore. There are also sculptures of humans, gods, animals, and demons. One notable sculpture resembles a giant pumpkin. It has three stories representing three levels - Hell, Earth and Heaven. Visitors can enter through an opening which is a mouth of a 10-foot-tall demon head and climb staircases from hell to heaven. Each story contains sculptures depicting the level. At the top, there is a vantage point where the entire park is visible. Another sculpture, an enormous 40-metre-longreclining Buddha, is also a park attraction.
you lazy fellow.
in the hell room in the "pumpkin"
view from the top
oh, krishna!
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