thelittlestraycat: August 2011

August 21, 2011

280707 + 021209 Wat Nongbone - 05 misc

The place where cremations were held, as mentioned here:

Photo by K-san

The coconuts must be good, for 'rungs' to be nailed on the trunk for easy access?

A peaceful respite in central Vientiane - this section has the feel of a 'wat pa' (forest temple):

Remains of a stupa?

Perimeter wall:

280707 + 021209 Wat Nongbone - 04 Pha Lak Pha Lam

Paintings on two of the buildings at the back of the temple compound:

Green monkey flanked by two mermaids:

In front of the other stairs:

With discus & trident in hand, against a backdrop of what looks like the top half of the Singapore flag, albeit missing one star:

Lao meow in Lao wat:

021209 Wat Nongbone - 03 new sim

Not sure if this is a new building or the complete makeover of an old one. For some reason it faces the perimeter wall (towards Pha That Luang) - away from all other buildings in the temple - & with just a few metres between its front entrance & the wall. In July 2007 it was all bare concrete, in December 2009 some progress had been made:

Emaciated Buddha on the rear gable:

At one point during his search for Enlightenment, he ate only one grain of rice (in some accounts, a leaf or a nut) a day, thinking that he could put an end to desire by fasting...only to realise that desire cannot be ended by extreme asceticism.

Main door - before (280707):

Main door - after (021209):

The dashes of white paint on the left pillar haven't changed one bit :P

An aura of whitewash:

Windows so new, the panels still clad in shrinkwrap:

Detail of window/door frames - face in the center might be a kala (kirtimukha), a demon that has no lower jaw & body because it was told by Lord Shiva to eat itself up: