Craig Raskin Photography

King Anouvong, also known as Chao Anou, grew up in Siam (Thailand), but later moved back to Laos and in 1804 succeeded his two elder brothers to rule over the Kingdom of Lan Xang. As part of his reign, he built Wat Si Saket in 1818. King Anouvang attended the funeral of Thai King Rama II in Bangkok and was very insulted by the way he was treated. On his return to Vientiane, he started to plan a revolt against Siam which finally took place in 1826. The revolt was unsuccesful and in 1827 Siamese military forces invaded Vientiane and destroyed the city. Wat Si Saket was one of the few buildings to escape the almost total destruction of the city.

After the overthrow of King Anouvong and his imprisonment in Bangkok, the temple took on a new historical significance. At the temple, Lao Royalty were forced to swear oaths of allegiance to the Siamese. Later after the French invaded, the temple was used again as the location where new oaths of allegiance were sworn by the Lao Royals to their new conquerors.

Wat Si Saket is unique in that it contains over 6000 Buddha statues. The statues range in size from only a few centimeters in height to over one and a half meters tall. The statues are original and date from the 15th to 19th centuries.

The following pictures of Wat Si Sisaket were taken in April, 2004.