The Temple Complex of Wat Phou bears exceptional testimony to the
cultures of South-East Asia, and in particular to the Khmer Empire,
which dominated the region in the 10th to 14th centuries. It is an
outstanding example of the integration of symbolic landscape of great
spiritual significance to its natural surroundings, expressing the
Hindu version of the relationship between nature and humanity.
The origins of the site lie before AD 600, at least at the city of
Shrestrapura, where archaeological research has produced evidence of
pre-Angkorian times [ until
c. AD 900 ]. The development of the
site as a whole, however, was intimately bound up with the origin,
development and zenith of the Khmer Empire between the 7th and 12th
centuries.
A new line of kings probably centred in the Champasak region
expanded its authority from its capital at Isanapura from the 10th
century onwards, until it encompassed not only most of modern Cambodia
but also much of what is now eastern Thailand. The floruit of the
elaborate landscape at Vat Phou occurred during these centuries. Its
historical significance lies in its role as an imperial centre and its
demonstration of Indian rather than Chinese influence in the clear
evidence of Hindu religious belief. The last major developments to the
Champasak cultural landscape were in the 13th century, just before the
collapse of the Khmer Empire.
There is no evidence of any maintenance of the monumental buildings
since then, although various other occupations and events have occurred
on the site. Vat Phou itself, in contrast to what it represented in the
first millennium, was converted to Theravada Buddhism and remains a
local centre of worship today. Essentially, however, the area reverted
to secondary forest, which covered most of it when the first Europeans
arrived in the 19th century. An annual Vat Phou Festival demonstrates
the continuing place of the site in the lives of the local community.
Champasak District lies 500 km south-east of the capital, Vientiane,
on the west bank of the Mekong River. It contains the Vat Phou temple
complex, a major example of both early and classic Khmer architecture
of the 7th-12th centuries. Recent research has shown that this complex
is the focal point of a sophisticated cultural landscape centred on the
Champasak Plain, taking in the Phou Kao (mountain) to the west and the
banks of the Mekong River to the east. Between them are temples,
shrines, water tanks, water channels, quarries, historic field systems,
settlement sites and an ancient road to Angkor.
A planned pre-Angkorian ancient city (4 ha) on the banks of the
Mekong appears to have been replaced as the urban centre by another
planned city immediately south of Vat Phou itself in the Angkor period.
A probably contemporary road leads southwards from it, past quarries
and other industrial works. Many of these features exist in a carefully
planned landscape laid out to reflect its sacred character as perceived
by the builders of Vat Phou. The terraced Temple Complex lies at the
foot of Phou Kao, stretching west-east to a freshwater spring on a rock
terrace where the shrine was built. An axial line from the natural
linga [ phallic-like point ] on the mountain summit through the shrine
was used as the basis for the layout of the temple complex: it is
1,400 m long, with lakes as well as buildings to either side, bisected
by an axial processional way.
The use of a natural mountain-top eye-catcher [ elevation 1,416 meters ]
and the relatively high degree of survival of landscape and its
structural components, assist present-day appreciation of the grand
concept of the original design of what was always intended to be a
'cultural landscape'. Much of it continues in use now as shallow
paddy-fields for rice.''
